“He could not - say rather, he would not - deny himself the chance of the pleasure of seeing Margaret. He had no end in this but the present gratification.”

“Even if times got bad, he would never again deny himself the possibility that the future might be happy even if the present was painful. He would allow himself dreams.”

“He had a hear that could have held the empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar.”

“He had a heart that could have held the entire empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar.”

“How did it happen that now he could see everything so clearly. Something had given him leave to live in the present. Not once in his entire life had he come to rest in the quiet center of himself but had forever cast himself from some dark past he could not remember to a future that did not exist. Not once had he been present for his life. So his life had passed like a dream. Is it possible for people to miss their lives the way one can miss a plane?”

“And it was cowardly for a man to say he would kill himself, but Septimus had fought; he was brave; he was not Septimus now”