“He seriously thought that there is less harm in killing a man than producing a child: in the first case you are relieving someone of life, not his whole life but a half or a quarter or a hundredth part of that existence that is going to finish, that would finish without you; but as for the second, he would say, are you not responsible to him for all the tears he will shed, from the cradle to the grave? Without you he would never have been born, and why is he born? For your amusement, not for his, that’s for sure; to carry your name, the name of a fool, I’ll be bound – you may as well write that name on some wall; why do you need a man to bear the burden of three or four letters?”

“What place would that be, a whole world without roads? It was a panicking thought. A world without roads! He would go nowhere in such a place. He would be trapped where he was, he would have lived out his life only where he was born.”

“I am your instructor", he says."My name is Four".Christina asks, "Four? Like the number?""Yes", Four says. "Is there a problem?""No.""Good. We're about to go into the Pit, which you will someday learn to love. It-"Christina snickers. "The Pit? Clever name."Four walks up to Christina and leans his face close to hers. His eyes narrow, and for a second he just stares at her."What's your name?" he asks quietly."Christina", she squeaks."Well, Christina, if I wanted to put up with Candor smart-mouths, I would have joined their faction", he hisses. "The first lesson you will learn from me is to keep your mouth shut.Got that?”

“You need a job and I need a PA, why don’t you come and work for me?”“No thanks, God knows what being your PA would involve.”He laughs. “Well it would involve the usual, faxing, filing, answering the phones, takingbookings, relieving my sexual needs, etcetera.”“Yeah I thought as much.” I tell him, my tone doing all the rejecting for me.“Seriously though, the offer stands. Think it over.” He tells me in a soft voice.“I don’t have PA experience.”“I’ll teach you,” he says, in a tone that insinuates other things.“Sure.”He lowers his voice. “I think I’d enjoy teaching you things.”“Can’t say I w-would enjoy it.” Yeah, right.“You stuttered,” he says”

“[I]sn't it sad to go to your grave without ever wondering why you were born? Who, with such a thought, would not spring from bed, eager to resume discovering the world and rejoicing to be part of it?”

“But he grins, so brilliantly, not even paying attention. “I love it when you say my name,” he says. “I don’t even know why.” “Warner isn't your name,” I point out. “Your name is *****.” His smile is wide, so wide. “God, I love that.”“Your name?”“Only when you say it.”“*****? Or Warner?”His eyes close. He tilts his head back against the wall. Dimples.”