“The Detective was different. Not that he wasn't a good man; Willie had heard enough about him to understand that he was the kind who didn't like to turn away from another's pain, the kind who could...”

“After all, no relationship could function or survive under the burden of total honesty.”

“Perhaps it's true that all men love their fathers, no matter how terrible the things they do to their sons: there is a part of us that remains forever in debt to those responsible for our existence.”

“They were on the side of the angels, even if the angels weren't entirely sure that this was a good thing.”

“You could have fooled me. Everytime I called you, Luke said you were sick. I figured you were avoiding me. Again.""I wasn't. I did want to talk to you. I've been thinking about you all the time.""I...”

“Let me die the moment my love dies. Let me not outlive my own capacity to love. Let me die still loving, and so, never die.”

“I prefer to rule and work in Nigeria in a free and independent way. I was born free, and I want to die free in the name of my country.”

“I've been making a list of the things they don't teach you at school. They don't teach you how to love somebody. They don't teach you how to be famous. They don't teach you how to be rich or how to...”

“[C]oncepts of dying in to a heaven or hell seem a good deal more political than spiritual. (124)”

“I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do. ...”

“Don't think you can frighten me by telling me that I am alone. France is alone. God is alone. And the loneliness of God is His strength.”

“Time plays tricks between here and home," said Mogget sepulchrally, frightening the life out of the telephone operator.”

“Carroll was eleven years old when he saw The Haunting in The Oregon Theater. He had gone with his cousins, but when the lights went down, his companions were swallowed by the dark and Carroll found...”