He raised his arms as if to claw down the sky upon him. (p133) - Witi Ihimaera

Sometimes life has a habit of flooding over you and rushing you along in its overwhelming tide. (p63)

When I began to write in the 1970s there were three women I considered my elders: Katerina Mataira, Arapera Blank and Jacquie Sturm. They were like spinners working on a loom and their great triumph, together with that of Hone Tuwhare and Patricia Grace, was to begin spinning the tradition from which all contemporary Maori writers come.

In the small things is the genetic imprint of the larger things... You must reverse the small things as well as the larger things. You must learn to see not just with your eyes but with your heart and intelligence.