“One can reach the gates of hell just as easily by short steps as by large.”

“But we were just picnicking friends”

“What the hell was your pal Bertin demanding?” he asked. “Sipping syrup?”“It’s a cocktail he prefers when he gets, ah, overly excited.”“A cocktail?”“Of sorts. Lemon–lime soda, vodka, codeine in solution, and a Jolly Rancher candy.”“A what?”“Bertin prefers the watermelon–flavored variety.”D’Agosta shook his head. “Christ. Only in Louisiana.”“Actually, I understand the concoction originated in Houston.”

“The wise and good are outnumbered a thousand to one by the brutal and stupid.”

“Dr. Albert Frock: Well, how goes the gradual extinction of the human race, Lieutenant? Lt. Vincent D'Agosta: I'm doing what I can to keep it orderly.”

“My dear Vincent”

“You think of yourself as an "individual person", with a unique and separate mind. You think you are born and you think you die. All your life you feel separate and alone. Sometimes desperately so. You fear death because you fear the loss of individuality. All this is an illusion. You, he, she, those things around you living or not, the stars and galaxies, the empty space in between- these are not distinct, separate objects. All is fundamentally entangled.”