She enjoyed the sights and sounds of the dockside – ports were places of freedom.

Maria didn’t fear the sea but, as taught by her father, she respected its power. In her experience the ocean had no intent to drown travellers.

I pride myself on making my own decisions, sir, " she said. "I do not welcome gentlemen making them for me.

The jungle is alive. It’s dangerous as a living nightmare and brimful of hostility.

The smell of roasting meat rose from the street stalls in a sizzle and a fiddle player begged for coin as he rasped a haunting melody. Life could not be more perfect.

A journey is an achievement, Maria, just as much as a mathematical proof.

Today is the anniversary of my husband’s death, " Maria announced. It was a dramatic statement, but the occasion seemed to demand it. "And I am going to leave.

There was something about Maria Graham that you could believe in – a slice of home. If not unique in her travelling, she was at least extraordinary.

There's no need to curse God if you're an ugly duckling. He chooses those strong enough to endure it so that they can guide others who've felt the same.

What he had hoped for was his ruin and what he had feared his salvation.

The phoenix must burn to emerge

I'm a staple in my city, you can never ruin me.

A good musician can do more to change society than 30 average mayors.

No one should be rich except those who understand it.

It is true that we are weak and sick and ugly and quarrelsome but if that is all we ever were, we would millenniums ago have disappeared from the face of the earth.

But neither of us knows, because a fight's worth nothing if you know from the start that you're going to win it.

To practice Aikido fully you must calm the spirit and go back to the origin.

My parents don't really watch movies at all.