Paolo Giordano Quotes

Choices are made in brief seconds and paid for in the time that remains

Even though he was afraid to admit it, when he was with her it seemed it was worth doing all those normal things that normal people do.

People took what they wanted, they clutched at coincidences, the few there were, and made a life from them. . . . Choices are made in brief seconds and paid for in the time that remains.

The love of those we don't love in return settles on the surface and from there quickly evaporates.

She hadn't chosen him over all the others. The truth was that she hadn't even thought about anyone else.

Feeling special is the worst kind of cage a person can build for himself.

Why did you choose to stay here?" (...) "I don't know," he said. "It's as if there's more oxygen here.

Mattia thought that he and Alice were like that, twin primes, alone and lost, close but not close enough to really touch each other.

Mattia's voice no longer stirred anything in his stomach, but he was aware of the idea of him and always would be, as the only true benchmark for everything that had come afterward.

...finally her hands, so light, holding his head still and catching all his thoughts and imprisoning them there, in the space that no longer existed between them.

His scars were hidden and safe in her hand.

She found herself thinking of how it would feel to be safely trapped in his arms, with no more possibility to choose.

She was tired, with that tiredness that only emptiness brings.

In the end it happens, in some way you couldn't imagine before.

The scene was set. All that was required was an action, a cold start, instant and brutal as beginnings always are.

but his eyes were too dark for her to make out any spark in them

[Their love] had burned itself out, like a forgotten candle in an empty room, leaving behind a ravenous discontent.

It was strange to find them here, still alive, with their shared bits of past that suddenly counted for nothing.

You can fall ill with just a memory.

With a little effort, she could get up by herself

In fact, they didn't talk much at all, but they spent time together, each in his own abyss, held safe and tight by the other's silence.

Separating them were two layers of brick, a few inches of plaster, and nine years of silence.

Denis's love for Mattia had burned itself out, like a forgotten candle in an empty room, leaving behind a ravenous discontent.

She was stung by sharp regret thinking about the sheets and tablecloths, so costly and never used due to excessive regard.

By now he had learned. Choices are made in brief seconds and paid for in the time that remains.