“What matters is the face you show the world, not the quaking mess behind it.”

“They were frightened, no question, but they were not afraid of me. It was a fear of messing up and having to face themselves again, and facing the world, and the likes of you.”

“The mistakes don't matter. It's what you do when you mess up that does.”

“So what’s the use of repentance, and what do you care for goodness, and what if you should die in a quake, so who the hell cares? So I walked downtown, so these were the high buildings, so let the earthquake come, let it bury me and my sins, so who the hell cares? No good to God or man, die one way or another, a quake or a hanging, it didn’t matter why or when or how.”

“Because you showed one face to all the rest of the world, and another to me.”

“My life was going to flash before my eyes, but it decided to hide behind my eyes and quake with terror instead.”