« Whole sight; or all the rest is desolation. » (« Privire integrala; sau tot restul este dezolare »)

« […] only too frequently “I love you” is a euphemism for “I want to own you.” (« Prea adesea «Te iubesc» este un eufemism pentru «Vreau sa te posed» »)

« Phrases like “I love you” always secretly mean a sort of uncertainty. That’s the only reason I don’t say them. » (« Expresii ca «Te iubesc» inseamna intotdeauna in secret o anumita incertitudine. Asta-i singura ratiune pentru care nu le spun. »)

« Love is so strange, so conducted, since time began, under the illusion that it brings the lovers closer together; which it does, of course, in all sorts of physical and psychological ways. But it is also based on some profoundly blind assumptions, the prime fantasy being that the nature of the loved one during the first passionate phase is the everlasting true nature. But that phase is an infinitely delicate balance of reciprocal illusion, a meshing of wheels so finely cogged that the slightest atom of dust—the intrusion of hitherto unrecognized desires, tastes, twists of character, any new information thrust into the idyll—can wreck the movement. I knew this, I had learned to watch for it as one learns to watch for signs of familiar disease in certain plants. »  (Iubirea e atat de ciudata,  inca de la inceputuri dirijata de iluzia ca ea ii aduce pe iubiti mai aproape; ceea ce face, desigur, pe tot felul de cai fizice si psihologice. Dar ea e bazata, de asemenea, si pe unele presupuneri oarbe, cea dintai fantezie este aceea ca firea celui iubit in timpul primei faza pasionale este adevarata si durabila sa fire. Dar aceasta faza este o balanta foarte delicata de iluzii reciproce, o intrepatrundere de rotite asa de fin reglate ca pana si cel mai infim graunte de praf – intruziunea unor dorinte, gusturi, particularitati de caracter nerecunoscute pana atunci, orice patrundere brusca a unei informatii noi in interiorul idilei – le poate strica miscarea. Stiam asta, invatasem sa ma uit dupa asta ca unul care se uita dupa semnele unor boli cunoscute ale anumitor plante »)

« The word is the most imprecise of signs. Only a science-obsessed age could fail to comprehend that this is its great virtue, not its defect. » (« Cuvantul este cel mai imprecis dintre semne. Doar un timp obsedat de stiinta nu reuseste sa inteleaga ca asta e marea sa virtute, nu un defect al sau. »)