"Yet the moral is there: Madame de T. embodies it: she lied to her husband, she lied to her lover the Marquis, she lied to the young Chevalier. It is she who is the true disciple of Epicurus. Lovable lover of pleasure. Gentle protective liar. Guardian of Happiness."
Pg 141

"Regretting that the vulgar Ninth Symphony should have kept my wife from sleeping and precipitated our departure from this place where I was so content, I take a wistful look around me."
Pg 146

"My dear countryman, companion, renowned discoverer of Musca pragensis, heroic laborer on the scaffoldings, I can no longer bear to watch you standing stock-still in the water! You're going to catch your death of cold! Friend! Brother! Stop torturing yourself! Get out! Go to bed. Be happy you're forgotten. Snuggle into the soft shawl of universal amnesia. Stop thinking about the laughter that wounded you--it no longer exists just as your years on the scaffoldings no longer exist. The château is quiet, open the window and the fragrance of the trees will fill your room. Breathe. Those are three hundred year-old chestnuts..."
Pg135/6