But the name came to him, and regardless of where it might have come from or how it might be right, it was right. He knew it, and speaking made it more so.
-- Narrator (chapter 1 paragraph 30)

Importance: This quote occurs when George finds the crane in his backyard and appears after the narrator laments that people do not bother any more to look for the extraordinary. Yet he does and realizing that this extraordinary bird is in his yard starts his extraordinary story. Speaking it makes it come alive and grow just as telling a story makes it live and grow.

No one wanted to hear that people other than themselves might be complicated, that no one was ever just one thing, no history ever just one version.
-- Narrator (chapter 3 paragraph 5)

Importance: This quote appears as the narrator tells readers that people are surprised when they hear that George is American and is ready to tell George's story...