“The conversations rests uneasily; one doesn't expect good-byes to be burdened by such trivialities. This is not how it is in the books, he thinks, or in the theater, and he feels the need to speak of mission, of duty, of love. They reach home and close the door and he doesn't drop her hand. Where speech fails, touch compensates.”
“White. Like a clean piece of paper, like uncarved ivory, all is white when the story begins.”
“At times I wonder if the reason I have lost track of time is that I will know when to return not by a date, but when an emptiness is filled.”
“being needed was not the same as being accepted.”
“good piano tuner must have knowledge not only of his instrument but of “Physics, Philosophy, and Poetics,” so that Edgar, although he never attended university, reached his twentieth birthday with more education than many who had.”
“that being needed was not the same as being accepted.”
“One learns a lot if others assume you are deaf to their tongue.”
“war. A balanced peace is a poor fertilizer for promotion.”
“—¿Cómo funciona eso, entonces? —preguntó Haven—. ¿Cómo se vuelve a encontrar la gente?
—Lo único que sé es que atraemos a las personas que hemos amado antes.
—¿Y tú y yo nos hemos encontrado en cada vida?
—Ojalá fuera así de fácil. Te busco en cada vida, pero no siempre te encuentro. Y a veces te encuentro demasiado tarde.”
“I'd stand on the street corner and score a steak," Cas said.
I couldn't help laughing. "You know, you might be flooded with business."
His mouth stretched into a lecherous grin. "If you come with me we could be rich by morning."
"Very funny.”
“To worry is to become accessible, unwittingly accessible. And once you worry you cling to anything out of desperation; and once you cling you are bound to get exhausted or to exhaust whoever or whatever you are clinging to.”
“All eves are created to be perfect but, over time, they seem to develop flaws. Comparing yourself to your sisters is a useful way of identifying these flaws, but you must then take the necessary steps to improve yourself. There is always room for Improvement.”
“In the space of a single year, a crumbling rural village had sprouted an army town, like a great parasitical growth. The former peacetime aspect of the place was barely discernible. The village pond was where the dragoons watered their horses, infantry exercised in the orchards, soldiers lay in the meadows sunning themselves. All the peacetime institutions collapsed, only what was needed for war remained. Hedges and fences were broken or simply torn down for easier access, and everywhere there were large signs giving directions to military traffic. While roofs caved in, and furniture was gradually used up as firewood, telephone lines and electricity cables were installed. Cellars were extended outwards and downwards to make bomb shelters for the residents; the removed earth was dumped in the gardens. The village no longer knew any demarcations or distinctions between thine and mine.
pp. 36-37”
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