- "If you ask me that, yes, I know how to swim, I tell you. And yes, I could cross this cove, teeth clutching a rope, drenched clothes, late night. I could. But for what? I have now, my friend, nowhere to go back to."
- "And how about all those dreams of mangoes, freshly caught sapotis, graviola juice sticking to your lips in various sweetnesses and four o'clock afternoons?"
- "I lost them, you know, I can't even write about these, anymore."