How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
"I wish they were precious stones, but they are only shells," he sighed, "shells that I collected in places where I traveled."
His mother held out her hands to show the shells—small and curved, frilled and ruffled, or smooth as teardrops. They were pink as cats' tongues, shiny brown and speckled, iridescent black, or creamy white.
"Kirei!" she said. So beautiful! (5.40.31-33)
Art can be found anywhere in nature, even in something as simple as a bunch of shells. That's one of the major messages of the novel.