Yann Martel, Beatrice and Virgil

"Afterwards, when it's all over, you meet God. What do you say to God?"

"To my mind, faith is like being in the sun. When you are in the sun, can you avoid creating a shadow? Can you shake that area of darkness that clings to you, always shaped like you, as if constantly to remind you of yourself? You can’t. This shadow is doubt. And it goes wherever you go as long as you stay in the sun. And who wouldn’t want to be in the sun?"

"Slice a pear and you will find that its flesh is incandescent white. It glows with inner light. Those who carry a knife and a pear are never afraid of the dark."

"Just as music is noise that makes sense, a painting is colour that makes sense, so a story is life that makes sense."