“I wonder if anybody else feels this way, if anyone in here is as scared as I am. Are they as sad and angry and confused and ashamed? Is that even possible? Is it even possible for one building to hold all that pain?”

“I wonder what I would find if I could go back and decipher the layers, if it were possible to delve into my past that way, but realize that, even if it were possible, it would be futile.”

“But it is the mark of a leader, to hold all possibilities, even the unpleasant—even the unthinkable.”

“It is not possible to express the most precious insights, To see all that craves to be seen, To visit even the closest neighbors in the universe, To learn all that needs to be learned, To live without dying, And I am sad about it.But I livedAnd I am happy about that.”

“I don't see anybody here to-night whom one could possibly call a serious purpose.”

“No. I'm not from outer space or the future. And this is not magic, just science, pure engineering. Magic, religion, the occult --all of it-- they are all excuses to not believe that wonders are possible here on Earth. I don't want to be magic. I want people to understand that things they never even dreamed of are possible. I want to be believed, Louisa.”