“Panic was the worst thing. When you panicked, you couldn't see possibilities. Then came despair.”

“Miles clutched Quinn's elbow. "Don't Panic.""I'm not panicking," Quinn observed, "I'm watching you panic. It's more entertaining .”

“When you could discern a real threat from everything else, it was called caution. When you couldn't, it was called paranoia....You cannot separate paranoia from knowledge. The more you know, the more possibilities you see. The more possibilities you see, the more possibilities someone else sees. The more "someones" there are, the more "they" there are. It's a matter of simple math before you realize that They might not like you.”

“Mave believed that not being able to see your life clearly, to scrutinize it intelligently, meant that probably you were at the dead center of it, and that couldn't possibly be a bad thing.”

“The worst thing you could ever ask is "What could possibly go wrong?”

“You panicked". Venetia's voice is suddenly throbbing, as though she can't control a long-buried anger. "You panicked, Luke, and we lost the best relationship that we had. Everyone was jealous of us at Cambridge, everyone. We were perfect together."We weren't perfect!" He looks at her incredulously. "And I didn't panic---"You did! You couldn't cope with the commitment! It frightened you!"It did not frighten me!" Luke shouts, exasperated. "It made me realize you weren't the person I wanted to have children with. Or spend the rest of my life with. Ever. And that's why I ended it!”