“I took a strong dislike to him right then to save time and effort later.”

“Elaine: He saved my life twice. He's the only grown-up I know who keeps his promises.Michael: Yes. It is a point of pride with him. But please — don't mistake it for a virtue.”

“On into the void he flies, unafraid. There is nothing in mere absence that can cow him. Or loneliness. Or the lack of maps and charts. For he is his own path. And he sees by his own light. We watch him from a great distance. From a vantage point no less subjective, no less absolute. And so it's hard to tell whether he imposes himself on the emptiness, or becomes it.”

“That's what I've never been able to get about religion: that charmless combination of altruism and insanity. Give me a cynical, self-interested bastard any day of the week; at least you can play chicken with him and know he'll stick to the rules.”

“You use the word "Infinity" very glibly.... Have you ever been there? Time and space are extensions of the mind, the will. Which means that infinity is a purely local phenomenon. You can turn over a stone and find it crawling there. Or you can make it yourself out of whatever materials are at hand.”

“I could dodge the kick, but the stable door was already down - and I hadn't even realised it until I saw the splinters.”

“Stifling an obscene oath, I went back up the steps at a run, but I was locking the stable when the horse was already at the airport with a false passport.”