“He was just a coward and that was the worst luck any many could have.”

“It never occurred to him to be spiritually won over to the enemy. Many moderns, inured to a weak worship of intellect and force, might have wavered in their allegiance under this oppression of a great personality. . . . But this was a kind of modern meanness to which Syme could not sink even in his extreme morbidity. Like any man, he was coward enough to fear great force; but he was not coward enough to admire it.”

“I expect the worst both from reviewers and sales and then, with any luck, I may be proved wrong.”

“The worst that could be said of any man was that he did not pay attention”

“surely they had passed the worst. All the luck had been against them, but sooner or later even the worst luck changes.”

“Like any man, he was coward enough to fear great force; but he was not quite coward enough to admire it.”