There's a look of mischief in his eyes. 'Smilla. Why is it that such an elegant and petite girl like you has such a rough voice.' I'm sorry,' I say, 'if I give you the impression that it is only my mouth that's rough. I do my best to be rough all over.

There is one way to understand another culture. Living it. Move into it, ask to be tolerated as a guest, learn the language.

..That's where we humans make a mistake. We don't see the utterly amazing when it comes to us disguised as the ordinary.

I like him. I have a weakness for losers. Invalids, foreigners, the fat boy of the class, the ones nobody ever wants to dance with. My heart beats for them. Maybe because I've always known that in some way I will forever be one of them.

I feel the same way about solitude as some people feel about the blessing of the church. It's the light of grace for me. I never close my door behind me without the awareness that I am carrying out an act of mercy toward myself.

It may be necessary to stand on the outside of one is to see things clearly.

To want to understand is an attempt to recapture something we have lost.