“[...] the diversity of our opinions, consequently, does not arise from some being endowed with a larger share of reason than others, but solely from this, that we conduct our thoughts along different ways, and do not fix our attention on the same objects. For to be possessed of a vigorous mind is not enough; the prime requisite is rightly to apply it. The greatest minds, as they are capable of the highest excellences, are open likewise to the greatest aberrations; and those who travel very slowly may yet make far greater progress, provided they keep always to the straight road, than those who, while they run, forsake it.”

“What she did learn from all the books was something else, something she hadn't really been expecting, which was that the story of loneliness is much longer than the story of life. In the sense of what most people mean by living, she said. Without children or partner, without meaningful family or a home, a day can last an eternity: a life without those things is a life without a story, a life in which there is nothing - no narrative dramas - to alleviate the cruelly meticulous passing of time.”

“Words define us, they explain us, and, on occasion, they serve to control or isolate us.”

“Yes, but either way, shamed or not, I shall be Queen of England, and this is the last time you will sit in my presence.”

“You can no more make someone tell the truth than you can force someone to love you.”

“You’re my obsession, I’m your possession You own the deepest part of me You crawled into the darkness, set my monster free So scream, bleed, call out to me But never say stop, never flee”

“It is often said that a wrong decision taken at the right time is better than a right decision taken at the wrong time.”

“But that is the dual gift of love, isn’t it? The joy of greeting and the sorrow of good-bye.”