“If the red slayer think he slays,Or if the slain think he is slain,They know not well the subtle waysI keep, and pass, and turn again.Far or forgot to me is near,Shadow and sunlight are the same,The vanished gods to me appear,And one to me are shame and fame.They reckon ill who leave me out;When me they fly, I am the wings;I am the doubter and the doubt,And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.The strong gods pine for my abode,And pine in vain the sacred Seven;But thou, meek lover of the good!Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.”

“Imagine a very long time passing - and I find my way out, following someone who already knows how to leave Hell. And God says to me on Earth for the first time, "Xas!" in a tone of discovery, as if I'm a misplaced pair of spectacles or a stray dog. And he puts it to me that he wants me in Heaven. But Lucifer has doubled back - it was him I followed - to find me, where I am, in a forest, smitten, because the Lord has noticed me, and I'm overcome, as hopeless as your dog Josie whom you got rid of because she loved me.' Xas glared at Sobran. Then he drew a breath - all had been said on only three. He went on: 'Lucifer says to God the He can't have me. And at this I sit up and tell Lucifer that I didn't even think he knew my name, then say to God no thank you - very insolent this - and that Hell is endurable so long as the books keep appearing.”

“My prayers, my God, flow from what I am not;I think thy answers make me what I am.”

“By all means they try to hold me secure who love me in this world.But it is otherwise with thy love which is greater than theirs, and thout keepst me free.Lest I forgot them they never venture to leave me alone. But day passes by after day and thou art not seen.If I call not thee in my prayers, if I keep not thee in my heart, thy love for me still waits for my love.”

“The way my ideas think meIs the way I unthink God.As in the name of heaven I make hellThat is the way the Lord says me.And all is adventure and dangerAnd I roll Him off cliffs and mountains But fast as I am to push Him offFast am I to reach Him below.And it may be then His turn to push me off,I wait breathless for that terrible second:And if He push me not, I turn around in anger:“O art thou the God I would have!”Then He pushes me and I plunge down, down!And when He comes to help me upI put my arms around Him, saying, “Brother,Brother.” . . . This is the way we are.”

“it is no small comfort to me to know that God has called me to my work, putting me where I am and as I am. I have not sought the position, and I dare not leave it. He knows why He places me here-whether to do, or learn, or suffer.”