And later, when the sun begins to sink and the infinite sky is streaked with red and gold, I’ll stroll out into the courtyard- perhaps even climb the steps to the gatehouse. And I’ll gaze across the Chasm to the other side of the island, where I can still sometimes catch sight of a curly-haired urchin running joyously through the tall purple grass, her faithful dog at her heels.

If all women were as frail as men seem to believe, the human race would have died out millennia ago.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons Toby dislikes politics-that some of the people who car most about politics seem to have the least compassion for ordinary human beings.

Are any of us non-believers in moments of despair?

For we carry what we love inside us, always.

The way she told it, the English counties are littered with aging spinsters who accidentally displayed a spark of intelligence at a debutante dance and were banished forever from civilized society

There’s a fine line between gossip and history, when one is talking about kings.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,' I said, sighing.'Is it?' said Veronica, looking surprised. 'Universally acknowledged? Surely that presupposes life similar to human societies beyond this planet, and besides--''No, no, it's a quote from ... Never mind,' I said.

Do you know what it is?' [Toby] said thoughtfully. 'It's that they haven't had anything really awful happen to them. No wonder they seem so superficial and unfeeling.' It was certainly an interesting theory, ... [but] surely one didn't need to have suffered in order to possess empathy for those who had? All it required was a bit of imagination and a well-stocked library.

She seemed to think reading was some sort of hobby, as opposed to being as necessary as breathing, sleeping, and eating.