“One cannot pass by without thinking of the density of men in the ground.”

“In the smoky firelight the two old men nodded off like a pair of ancient kings passing the aeons in their tumuli. Made a musical notation of their snores. Elgar is to be played by a bass tuba, Ayrs a bassoon.”

“Often I think boys don’t become men. Boys just get papier-mâchéd inside a man’s mask. Sometimes you can tell the boy is still in there.”

“This world, he thinks, contains just one masterpiece, and that is itself.”

“I pass through many Me's in the course of my day, each one selfish with his time. The Lying-in-Bed me and the Enjoying-the-Hot-Shower Me are particularly selfish. The Late Me loathes the pair of them.”

“Sobering to think how one accursed night of baccarat can alter a man's social standing so irreversibly.”

“An abyss cannot be crossed in two steps.”