“Das Leben ist ein Labyrinth. Manche irren darin bis zu ihrem Ende herum und suchen nach einem Ausweg. Dabei gibt es nur einen Weg und der führt immer tiefer hinein. Erst wenn man die Mitte erreicht hat, wird man verstehen. Der Tod ist etwas Unbegreifliches, aber man kann sich mit ihm vesröhnen. Bis dahin solltest du Dich jeden Tag fragen, ob du die richtige Entscheidung getroffen hast.”

“The young couple would walk through the night, scattering ginkgo leaves in their wake. What did they talk about? Their families, their classmates, books they had read - whatever the topic, it was endlessly fascinating. Years later, when I asked the girl about the happiest memories of her life, she told me of those nights.

This is not the sort of thing that shows up in satellite photographs. Whether in CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, or in the East Asian studies department of a university, people usually analyze North Korea from afar. They don’t stop to think that in the middle of this black hole, in this bleak, dark country where millions have died of starvation, there is also love.”

“Her eyes fill up with tears again and she closes them. Even in memory, she will find this moment unbearably intense, and she’s aware of this now, while it’s happening. She has never believed herself fit to be loved by any person. But now she has a new life, of which this is the first moment, and even after many years have passed she will still think: Yes, that was it, the beginning of my life.”

“In your place, if there is pain, nurse it. And if there is a flame, don’t snuff it out. Don’t be brutal with it. We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster, that we go bankrupt by the age of thirty and have less to offer each time we start with someone new. But to make yourself feel nothing so as not to feel anything - what a waste.”

“The only way we know it’s true is that we both dreamed it. That’s what reality is. It’s a dream everyone has together.”

“Let the blue sky meet the blue sea and all is blue for a time.”

“In ten years time, I want to live in a house with big windows. I want the house to be large enough to have a kitchen table with four chairs but not too roomy to ever feel the depth of my aloneness. Because I’ll probably be alone.

But I think aloneness won’t feel so all-consuming with windows that protect me from the world but still let me watch it.”

“If you don’t stick to your values when they are being tested, they’re not values...they’re hobbies.”

“I have already settled it for myself, so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free.”

“Everyone you meet always asks you if you have a career, are married, or own a house as if life was some kind of grocery list. But no one ever asks you if you are happy.”