A seed does not see the light without first cleaving a difficult path through the earth. This story of mine is the story of the seed's battle against… - Fadwa Tuqan

For the first time I experienced blissful sleeplessness full of fantasies and delightful imaginings; and for the first time I knew how one person's face can obliterate all other faces, and invade the whole of existence. (p48)

[[Happiness] is the child of the moment; it consumes its moment and vanishes with it; but prolonged suffering, although it eventually stops smarting like a live coal, changes into a profound grief where our pain is lulled to sleep until reawakened by a memory or aroused by a beautiful sight. (p181-2)

In school I was able to discover some parts of my lost self. There I established myself as a person, something I had not been able to do at home. (p45)