"You've got mean, Oriel." She sniffs. "It is the war that's done it to you?" "It's all war," she said. "What… — Tim Winton

Oriel looked at the potatoes in her hand and thought of the things she'd like to tell the spud growers of Australia about taking a little time, a little pride and a little care.

Why was it that he didn't know a thing about the underlying nature of people, the shadows and shifts, the hungers and hopes that caused them to do the things they did?

"It does you good to be tenants. It reminds you of your own true position in the world."