“Come to think, perhaps being nearly killed wasn't always a misfortune-so long as you didn't actually die of it.”

“Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand.”

“I just didn't think you actually had to die to live forever.”

“Wasn't that the way it always was? You didn't know, you couldn't tell, you just let it happen... Perhaps they didn't know themselves. Sometimes the line was very fine.”

“for some reason, dying men always ask the question they know the answer to. perhaps it's so they can die being right.”

“I think if you keep the box closed long enough you do kill the cat, actually.”