“I am one for whom dangers are play- thingsOne who empties men of their strength as a nut from its shell The charms you use I chop up for relish on my porridgeBeware! I am a deadly mambaWrestler of legendsA hive of hornetsA man among men”

“I am she who lifts the mountainsWhen she goes to hunt,Who wears mamba for a headbandAnd a lion for a belt.Beware!I swallow elephants wholeAnd pick my teeth with rhinoceros horns,I drink up rivers to get at the hippos.Let them hear my words!Nhamo is comingAnd her hunger is great.I am she who tosses treesInstead of spears.The ostrich is my pillowAnd the elephant is my footstool!I am NhamoWho makes the river my highwayAnd sends crocodiles scurrying into the reeds!”

“I don't mind," he whispered. "If I had a soul, I'd probably wind up in hell anyway.”

“I love you," Matt said.I love you, too," Maria replied. "I know that's a sin, and I'll probably go to hell for it."If I have a soul, I'll go with you," promised Matt.”

“But I also know that to ignore joy while it lasts, in favor of lamenting one's fate, is a great crime.”

“You don’t have a soul, so you can’t be baptized. All animals are like that. I think it’s unfair and sometimes I don’t believe it. After all, what would heaven be without birds or dogs or horses? And what about trees and flowers? They don’t have souls either. Does that mean heaven looks like a cement parking lot? I suppose this is what the nuns call a theological problem.”

“I always say the truth is best even when we find it unpleasant. Any rat in a sewer can lie. It's how rats are. It's what makes them rats. But a human doesn't run and hide in dark places, because he's something more. Lying is the most personal act of cowardice there is.”