Each of my pilgrimages aims at some other pilgrim.
-- Narrator (Seeing Is Knowing paragraph 1)

Importance: This is the quote with which Tokarczuk begins many of the vignettes narrated by her main unnamed narrator whom we can imagine as her own alter-ego. It serves as a mantras because it is her singular purpose and pursuit. It explains the book and its structure, that her vignettes are her collection of other pilgrims preserved with words. It is followed each time by a sentence that describes the pilgrims in the given vignette, such as the one in this example: "In this case the pilgrim is in pieces, broken down."

The island state is a state of remaining within one's own boundaries, undisturbed by any external influence; it resembles a kind of narcissism or even autism.
-- Narrator (The Psychology of an Island paragraph 1)

Importance: This quote explains the symbol of an island to the reader. She is referring to physical, mental and spiritual island. Like the frog the...