“In that moment, the machinery of the world lined up. Somewhere a clock struck midnight, and Hugo's future seemed to fall perfectly into place.”

“I was suddenly struck by how dissimilar we were. It occurred to me that if Grace and I were objects, she would be an elaborate digital clock, synced up with the World Clock in London with technical perfection, and I’d be a snow globe – shaken memories in a glass ball.”

“The world, my friend Govinda, is not imperfect or confined at a point somewhere along a gradual pathway toward perfection. No, it is perfect at every moment.”

“Two things are aesthetically perfect in the world — the clock and the cat.”

“There is a night that never comes to an end....The clock of the world turns under its own shadow. Midnight is a moving place, hurtling around the planet at a thousand miles an hour like a dark knike, cutting slices of daily bread off the endless loaf of Time.”

“Night's winged horsesNo one can outpaceBut midnight is no momentMidnight is a place.Meet me at Midnight,Among the Queen Anne's LaceMidnight is not a moment,Midnight is a place—When, when shall I meet youWhen shall I see your faceFor I am living in time at presentBut you are living in space.Time is only a cornerAge is only a foldA year is merely a pennySpent from a century's gold.So meet me, meet me at midnight(With sixty seconds' grace)Midnight is not a moment;Midnight is a place.”