“Today is declared an unscheduled holiday.”

“He had long nostril hairs, powerfully intimidating, like an unscheduled nightmare.”

“Yesterday's shortcuts are today's nightmares. The race is quicker when we're stricter. Keep your eyes on today, and declare what you may.”

“Dr. Philbosian smelled like an old couch, of hair oil and spilled soup, of unscheduled naps.”

“If you can swing it, getting arrested is the high point of the Fourth of July. Also, the reading of the Declaration of Independence is exciting. (Yes, the Declaration was written two years after Essex is officially set. No, this doesn't stop us.) […] Essex stayed open late that night, for the holiday. Our patriotism cannot be constrained by an eight-hour workday.”

“It was the seventh of November, 1918. The war was finally over. Maybe it would be declared a holiday and named War's End Day or something equally hopeful and wrong. Wars would break out again. Violence was part of human nature as much as love and generosity.”