“His sister-in-law Sylvia represented for him unceasing, unsleeping activities of a fantastic kind.”

“The stars twinkled above him brilliantly, representing all of the beautiful laws of the universe.”

“All the trees, with all their laden branches; all the shrubs, and ferns, and grasses; the message-carrying air; all these unceasingly were active.”

“The fantastic is in complicity with the realist model, in the claims that realism makes to represent the true face of reality. It points to the gaps and inadequacies of realism, but does not question the legitimacy of its claims to represent reality. The concept of “suspension of disbelief', that beloved criterion of positivist criticism supposedly serving to establish the legitimacy of the fantastic, confirms this hegemony.”

“On Elizabeth Gaskell's 'Sylvia's Lovers'. 'Philip Hepuburn worships Sylvia Robson, and finds dishonour' Sylvia Robson worships Charley Kinraid, and finds disillusionment. Charley Kinraid worships himself, and finds a career in the Royal Navy and an heiress who agrees with him.”

“In his own way each man must struggle, lest the moral law become a far-off abstraction utterly separated from his active life.”