Quotes by Mariane Pearl

“We are two people who met and fell in love because we have the same ideal. And all my life and all his life and our life together is just a big effort to try to create a dialogue between civilizations.”

“His spirit, his faith and his conviction have not been defeated.”

“Adams birth rekindles the joy, love and humanity that Danny radiated wherever he went.”

Its like Romeo & Juliet, I say. You cant separate them. Otherwise, there would be no Shakespeare. Silence. I decide to be more straightforward. I tell him, Nothing frightens me anymore. I am not even afraid to die. Busseys eyes, already wide open, grow even wider. My death is the last thing he needs. I have the strange feeling that there are two of me. One observes the conversation while the other does the talking. Everything is abnormal, especially this extreme calm that has taken me over. I try to explain to Bussey that if I decide to die, it will be without bitterness. I know I did everything I possibly could, so it will be respectful farewell. I will bow to life like an actor, who, having delivered his lines, bends deeply to his audience & retires. I tell Bussey that this decision has nothing to do with him, that it is entirely mine. I will choose either to live or to die, but I cannot allow myself to live in the in-between. I do not want to go through life like a ghost. Do you think youll find Danny this way? Bussey asks. My mind sifts through all available theories on the afterlife. It is as if this metaphysical question has become as real as the air we breathe. Buddhism teaches that life is an eternal cycle without beginning or end. I recall the metaphor: Our individual lives are like waves produced from the great ocean that is the universe. The emergence of a wave is life, and its abatement is death. This rhythm repeats eternally. Finally I answer Bussey, No, I dont think so. Bussey seems relieved, but Im more panicky, because I had never thought that I could wind up alone. In my mind, whatever the odds, Danny & I were & would be together forever.