Your necklace may break, the fau tree may burst, but my tattooing is indestructible. It is an everlasting gem that you will take into your grave. – Verse from a traditional tattoo artist’s song, as quoted on pbs.org, “Skin

You may lose your most valuable property through misfortune in various ways. You may lose your house, your wife and other treasures. But of your moko, you cannot be deprived except by death. It will be your ornament and companion until your last day. – Netana Whakaari of Waimana

For westerners, the tattoo has always been a metaphor of difference. – Margo DeMello, Bodies of Inscription: A Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Co