"Could fulfillment ever be felt as deeply as loss?" (2)
Sai, in her contemplation on love.
"Love was the ache, the anticipation, the retreat, everything around it but the emotion itself" (3).
"The greatest love is love that’s never shown" (87)
The cook, on the judge's feelings towards his wife.
"But so fluid a thing was love. It wasn’t firm, he was learning, it wasn’t a scripture; it was a wobbliness that lent itself to betrayal, taking the mold of whatever he poured it into. And in fact, it was difficult to keep from pouring it into numerous vessels. It could be used for all kinds of purposes..." (177).
"The present changes the past. Looking back you do not find what you left behind" (208)
The judge, on Bose when Bose questioned if what was in the past remained unchanged.
"After the initial excitement was over, it often became obvious that the love was gone; for affection was only a habit after all, and people, they forgot, or they became accustomed to its absence. They returned and found just the façade" (233).
"…you must stop your thoughts if you wished to remain intact, or guilt and pity would take everything from you, even yourself from yourself" (264).
"And that’s the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too" (48).
"It always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place" (185).
"Time can be a greedy thing – sometimes it steals all the details for itself" (188).
"I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night" (313).
"Could fulfillment ever be felt as deeply as loss?" (2) Sai, in her contemplation on love.
"Love was the ache, the anticipation, the retreat, everything around it but the emotion itself" (3). 
"The greatest love is love that’s never shown" (87) The cook, on the judge's feelings towards his wife.
"But so fluid a thing was love. It wasn’t firm, he was learning, it wasn’t a scripture; it was a wobbliness that lent itself to betrayal, taking the mold of whatever he poured it into. And in fact, it was difficult to keep from pouring it into numerous vessels. It could be used for all kinds of purposes..." (177).
"The present changes the past. Looking back you do not find what you left behind" (208) The judge, on Bose when Bose questioned if what was in the past remained unchanged.
"After the initial excitement was over, it often became obvious that the love was gone; for affection was only a habit after all, and people, they forgot, or they became accustomed to its absence. They returned and found just the façade" (233).
"…you must stop your thoughts if you wished to remain intact, or guilt and pity would take everything from you, even yourself from yourself" (264).
All prices exclude GST.
