Man might carve his mark on the earth but unless he's vigilant, Nature will take it all back.

... sometimes love becomes a power game between ambitions that parents have for their children and the ambitions that children have for themselves.

... the love which Kahu received from Koro Apirana was the sort that dropped off the edge of the table, like breadcrumbs after everybody else has had a big meal.

When it comes to the crunch, coming out is the greatest of all confessions. Nothing is more difficult to acknowledge. When we become ourselves we reach right back to the time when we were conceived out of our parents’ passion. We murder their lives. There can never be any forgiveness.

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

Even the good guys,' she said, 'can't win all the time.

When you're sorting yourself out, family are not often the ones you can turn to. They represent the place of departure and not the place of arrival.