“None of us can choose where we shall love...”

“Is the mask magic?" he demanded with sudden, passionate interest."Yes." I bowed my head, so that our eyes no longer met. "I made it magic to keep you safe. The mask is your friend, Erik. As long as...”

“And it's really very difficult to kill someone when all your inner instincts would oblige you to take off your hat first!”

“I am not forsaken! I'm no longer alone in the darkness! Before my eyes I see a thousand little devils lighting black candles along the path which leads toward the edge...the blindingly beautiful edge.”

“You must expect to make enemies.""I never expect to make anything else," he said.”

“Then I made her understand that, where she was concerned, I was only a poor dog, ready to die for her. But that she could marry the young man she pleased because she had cried with me, and mingled ...”

“Have they known scorn like youFive cellars down?”

“Ah, well...hell is full of burning boats, did you know that, Nadir? I daresay that's what makes it so bloody hot.”

“I wouldn't even dare read the Torah, let alone attempt a witty observation on the Torah.”

“I'm an angel. The horns are only there to hold up the halo.”

“Childhood friends are continuity, uninterrupted connections between selves, and you hold on them. You hold on them and you love them, but sometimes they're not quite comfortable.”