TWO interesting quotes from the book I am reading at the moment.

"words are actions and they make things happen. Once they are out you cannot put them back. Something irrevocable will have been done, and of this I am fearful and uncertain. As a matter of fact I am trembling, and have been all afternoon, all day."

"I know love is dark work; you have to get your hands dirty. If you hold back, nothing interesting happens. At the same time you have to find the right distance between people. Too close, and they overwhelm you; too far and they abandon you. How to hold them in the right relation to yourself?"

"It is beguiling how, in good relationships, even after years, formerly undiscovered parts of people are suddenly exposed, as in an archaeological dig. There is much to explore, and understand. With other people you can turn away, bored. This is just the way things are."

Hanif Kureishi, Intimacy.