"Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea that made-up stories can matter, which is sort of the foundational assumption of our species."
"The pleasure of remembering had been taken from me, because there was no longer anyone to remember with. It felt like losing your co-rememberer meant losing the memory itself, as if the things we'd done were less real and important than they had been hours before."
"Some people don't understand the promises they're making when they make them,"I said."Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway."
"I will not tell you our love story, because-like all real love stories-it will die with us,as it should."
"Some tourists think Amsterdam is a city of sin, but in truth it is a city of freedom. And in freedom, most people find sin."
"Augustus,"I said. "Really. You don't have to do this.""Sure I do,"he said. "I found my Wish.""God, you're the best,"I told him."I bet you say that to all the boys who finance your international travel,"he answered."