I did not know the work of mourning Is a labor in the dark We carry inside ourselves.

I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream.

I did not know then that this is what life is -- just when you master the geometry of one world, it slips away, and suddenly again, you're swarmed by strange shapes and impossible angles.

I did not know then what Brother William was seeking, and to tell the truth, I still do not know today, and I presume he himself did not know, moved as he was solely by the desire for truth, and by the suspicion -- which I could see he always harbored -- that the truth was not what was appearing to him at any given moment.

I did not know what breath meant until she died. It was everything that gave me quickness and life: it was thought, feeling, animation. Without it there was nothing.

I did not know what it was to be happy for a whole day at a time, scarcely for an hour.

I did not know what my future was going to hold.

I did not know what she suffered from, but I knew that her malady must have been horrible; I knew that from the way she used to embrace me.

I did not know whether I would ever speak to her or not or, if I spoke to her, how I could tell her of my confused adoration. But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.

I did not like 'The Hurt Locker.' It's a lazy way to make a movie, frankly. I could put you on the edge of your seat quite easily, and have you feel the tension for 2 hours, if every other scene practically is, 'Should we cut the red wire or the green wire?'

I did not like formal meetings, because they took away my freedom. I just liked to spend time with my friends, where I could be myself and did not need to don a mask.

I did not like leaving them when they were little or big. You have to have priorities regarding what you will allow to take you away from your kid.

I did not like prizes at school. I didn't like tests or exams, or the 11+, or O-levels. Later I hated B.A.s and M.A.s. The reason I hated them is that I don't like being tested, failed or falsely praised by anyone.

I did not like the nothing, and it is thus that I met the empty, the deep empty, the depth of the blue.

I did not like the way I looked in a pair of white pants.

I did not look for her, because I was afraid of dispelling the mystery we attach to people whom we know only casually.

I did not lose myself all at once. I rubbed out my face over the years washing away my pain, the same way carvings on stone are worn down by water.

I did not lose this election, or had a bad result compared with what we might have got because of Islam.

I did not love going out to parties or even get-togethers, really -- I went to the movies, which, if you think about it, is an isolating experience anyway -- and this was because I had anxiety about interacting with people.