"Once the sardines were ready, tens of thousands of them glistening in the refracted light, the fisherman would cinch the net and haul them in." (Part 1, p. 14).

"If a sailor finds the right port or the right woman, he'll drop anchor." (Part I, p. 41).

"In minutes the boat was gone into the darkness. He was alone at seat for two days, with sharks below and storms above, clinging to the remnants of the barrel, when he finally washed ashore." (Part I, p. 34).

"I want to make her smile like that, he thought. I want to be the one. I want to be the reason. He liked her more with every step she took toward him. He was sold." (Part I, p. 43).

"In Syria we have a saying, 'The crazy person talks, the wise person listens.'" (Part I, p. 46).

"Zeitoun was surprised. Previous experiments using the stadium as...