“Science, the agent that once promised to eradicate the supernatural, had, through the nuclear threat, resurrected it. Magic was not exactly alive, but it was surely undead.”

“He was a secret agent, and still alive thanks to his exact attention to the detail of his profession.”

“Spartacus," I called, "how's it hanging?" Probably not too well. Once you're dead, had your organs removed, and are resurrected as an undead mummified cat, your testicles probably looked like old raisins that had rolled under the couch. Raisins didn't tend to...hang.”

“Magic is not, and never has been a substitute for science, but is rather a constructive activity with a specific social function, and one that is still operative. [...] The aim of magical objects and magical rites is to arouse emotion in the group and to make such aroused emotions effective agents.”

“Emma and I had both died twice, and for me, that second one actually stuck. Now I was a "resurrected American," better known, in colloquial terms, as life-challenged. Or undead. Or the living dead. But I'm not a zombie. I'm just a little less alive than your average high school junior.”

“There is a certain dignity in going through life without the promise of Heaven or the threat of Hell.”