It's a survival thing, making yourself a small target. — Tim Winton

She was sick of conversations with people passing through. Nothing you said to each other mattered a damn because you'd never see them again.

Though it seemed so beautiful, the world around us was eternally dangerous. The price of spiritual freedom, we learnt, was eternal vigilance. Such a high price for so long.

"All the big things hurt, the things you remember. If it doesn't hurt it's not important."