“Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, and anyone else I've managed to leave out–”

“Anyone who knew the word slattern was worth cultivating as a friend.”

“Die, witch," I managed, making a cross of my forefingers.”

“We Three Kings of Leicester Square,Selling ladies’ underwear,So fantastic, no elastic,Only tuppence a pair.”

“Sorry, old girl," I said to [my bicycle] Gladys in the gray dishwater light of early morning, "but I have to leave you at home."I could see that she was disappointed, even though she managed to put on a brave face."I need you to stay here as a decoy," I whispered. "When they see you leaning against the greenhouse, they'll think I'm still in bed." Gladys brightened considerably at the thought of a conspiracy. [...]At the corner of the garden, I turned, and mouthed the words, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," and Gladys signaled that she wouldn't.I was off like a shot.”

“What intrigued me more than anything else was finding out the way in which everything, all of creation - all of it! - was held together by invisible chemical bonds, and I found a strange, inexplicable comfort in knowing that somewhere, even though we couldn't see it in our own world, there was a real stability.”

“I was learning that among friends, a smile can be better than a belly laugh.”