“Augustin stood there looking down at him and cursed him speaking slowly clearly bitterly and contemptuously and cursing as steadily as though he were dumping manure on a field lifting it with a dung fork out of a wagon.”

“Curse him to eternal damnation! Yes! Of course!" came the emotional reply."Don't curse him," I said softly. "Remember--he's only a machine, just an imperfect mirror of ourselves. We made him what he is--the disease, the cancer."There was nothing else to say, because that left only cursing ourselves, and we were already cursed.”

“There she weaves by night and day, A magic web with colors gay. She has heard a whisper say, A curse is on her if she stay, To look down to Camelot. She knows not what the curse may be, And so she weaveth steadily, And little other care hath she, The Lady of Shalott.”

“Go and see whether the Doctor is about,’ said Jack, ‘and if he is, ask him to look in, when he has a moment.’Which he is in the fish-market, turning over some old-fashioned lobsters. No. I tell a lie. That is him, falling down the companion-way and cursing in foreign.”

“Gabriel nodded. “Sometimes love makes hard decisions for the sake of what needs protecting.” “But love should fight.” He nodded slowly. “Yes, love should fight. But there is a difference between a valiant fight and a selfish fight. And love is not selfish.” She turned to look at him across the grass. “For someone who is cursed to be without love you are quite wise on matters of the heart.” Sorrow filled her eyes. “I’m sorry for your curse.” He shrugged. “It could be worse. I could be cursed to an eternity of pain or a life without chocolate.”

“We were all staring as we passes him, slowly, like a tourist at a wildlife park watching elephants from the safety of their wagon.”