“I will do what I promised." He whispered. "No matter what. I will not send you into the darkness alone.”

“What do you believe?I believe that the last and the first suffer equally. Pari passu.Equally?It is not alone in the dark of death that all souls are one soul.Of what would you repent?Nothing.Nothing?One thing. I spoke with bitterness about my life and I said that I would take my own part against the slander of oblivion and against the monstrous facelessness of it and that I would stand a stone in the very void where all would read my name. Of that vanity I recant all.”

“But this man had set down with a hammer and chisel and carved out a stone water trough to last ten thousand years. Why was that? What was it that he had faith in? It wasn't that nothin' would change. Which is what you might think, I suppose. He had to know better'n that. I've thought about it a good deal. . . And I have to say that the only thing I can think is that there was some sort of promise in his heart. And I don't have no intentions of carvin' a stone water trough. But I would like to be able to make that kind of promise. I think that's what I would like most of all.”

“Anyway, you never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from. I was too young for one war and too old for the next one. But I seen what come out of it. You can be patriotic and still believe that some things cost more than they’re worth. Ask them Gold Star mothers what they paid and what they got for it. You always pay too much. Particularly for promises. There aint no such thing as a bargain promise.”

“What do you say to em?Say to them?Yeah. Say.Hell, say anything. It doesnt matter, they dont listen. Well you gotta say somethin. What do you say?Try the direct approach.What's that?Well, like this friend of mine. Went up to this girl and said I sure would like to have a little pussy. No shit? What'd she say?She said I would too. Mine's as big as your hat.”

“Somewhere out there is a true and living prophet of destruction and I dont want to confront him. I know he's real. I have seen his work. I walked in front of those eyes once. I wont do it again. I wont push my chips forward and stand up and go out to meet him. It aint just bein older. I wish that it was. I cant say that it's even what you are willin to do. Because I always knew that you had to be willin to die to even do this job. That was always true. Not to sound glorious about it or nothin but you do. If you aint they'll know it. They'll see it in a heartbeat. I think it is more like what you are willin to become. And I think a man would have to put his soul at hazard. And I wont do that.”

“What would you do if I died?If you died I would want to die too.So you could be with me?Yes. So I could be with you.Okay.”