“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.”

“Boxer altered his course subtly, as if that was the way he'd already been going, not looking up to acknowledge he had heard, letting his attitude convey the contempt he felt for the scrawny foreman. He stopped in front of the guy, staring at the man's dusty little workboots. Small feet, small dick. Slowly, he glanced up. "Welcome to the world, Pee-Wee. Take a look at this.”

“Where are you from, Mr. Pendergast? Can't quite place the accent.”“New Orleans.”“What a coincidence! I went there for Mardi Gras once."“How nice for you. I myself have never attended.”Ludwig paused, the smile frozen on his face, wondering how to steer the conversation onto a more pertinent topic.”

“A human being creates complexity by writing a novel on the surface of paper; a weather system creates complexity by writing waves on the surface of an ocean. What is the difference between the information carried in the words of a novel and the information carried on the waves of the sea? Listen, and the waves will speak, and someday, I tell you, you will write your thoughts on the surface of the sea.”

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

“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.”

“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.”