“Think of what starlight And lamplight would lack Diamonds and fireflies If they couldn’t lean against Black. . . .”

“In the temporary illumination of the headlights, the insects were scribbling out messages from God that we couldn’t get.”

“My breath in the cold air was bleach that accidentally spilled on a black t-shirt.”

“You know what my motto is?'I didn't think people had mottoes anymore,' I said.Think fantastic,' Chuck said. 'My motto is, Think fantastic.”

“The stars are always up in the sky...then when it is perfectly black, they feel less vulnerable and out they come.”

“It was true what Jim said, this wasn’t the end but the beginning. But the wars would end one day and Jim would come then, to the island they would share. One day surely the wars would end, and Jim would come home, if only to lie broken in MacMurrough’s arms, he would come to his island home. And MacMurrough would have it built for him, brick by brick, washed by the rain and the reckless sea. In the living stream they’d swim a season. For maybe it was true that no man is an island: but he believed that two very well might be.”

“Becoming a child again is what is impossible. That's what you have a legitimate reason to be upset over. Childhood is the most valuable thing that's taken away from you in life, if you think about it.”