How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Thirteen is quite grown-up nowadays. And life can be very short, you know." (20.3)
The irony drips off this line like snot from a runny nose in allergy season. Ursula, who is being spoken to, knows better than anyone how short life is, having already died at birth, at age four, at five, at eight…
Quote #5
"Reincarnation," Dr. Kellet had said to her. "Have you heard of that?" Ursula, aged ten, shook her head. She had heard of very little. (20.47)
It's hard to tell if a psychologist who is discussing reincarnation with a ten-year-old is a genius or a crackpot. In any other book, he might be a kook, but in Life After Life, his diagnoses are spot on.
Quote #6
"One must nose forward," [Dr. Kellet] said. "Nudge one's way through the chaos of our thoughts. Unite the divided self." (20.49)
Ursula is made up of many divided selves. In each life, she feels weird echoes of past ones. While she might never be able to unite them all, she eventually becomes able to listen to them and either change them or let them be.