“My friends are under strict instruction that the moment I die, my heart should be taken out of my chest and thrown into the sea. My body should be buried in a still-undisclosed location, but only they will know it. Everybody said that I was going to die when I was 27, but now I’m 28. I fell out of a carriage when I was 11, and I almost died, so I’ve jumped the queue. I’m going to be alive until I’m 100—that’s my plan.”

“LAST NITE I HAD A DREAM. NOW I KNOW FOUR THINGS. I KNOW THAT MY VOICE DOESN’T CHANGE – BUT I STILL DON’T KNOW WHY. I KNOW THAT I AM GOD’S INSTRUMENT. I KNOW WHEN I’M GOING TO DIE – AND NOW A DREAM HAS SHOWN ME HOW I’M GOING TO DIE. I’M GOING TO BE A HERO! I TRUST THAT GOD WILL HELP ME, BECAUSE WHAT I’M SUPPOSED TO DO LOOKS VERY HARD.”

“You can grieve for me the week before I die, if I’m scared and hurting, but when I gasp that last fleeting breath and my immortal soul flees to heaven, I’m going to be jumping over fire hydrants down the golden streets, and my biggest concern, if I have any, will be my wife back here grieving. When I die, I will be identified with Christ’s exaltation. But right now, I’m identified with His affliction.”

“What a beautiful town!”I shouted out.Oh, but what a terrifying view..You know I wrestled with my bruised hoursJust to lie there next to you.”

“When I am dying, I should like my life taken out under general anaesthetic, exactly as if it were a diseased appendix.”

“Jo Lane had in fact lived there for five years until she moved on. “Where did she go?” I asked innocently, not getting it. “I’m so sorry to be the one telling you this, but Jo passed last winter,” the young nurse said. “She died,” she added, probably because of my dazed look.”

“I always read. You know how sharks have to keep swimming or they die? I’m like that. If I stop reading, I die.”