“No damned thing from the vasty deeps is going to get the better of me in my own home.”

“While the cat’s away, you may find the rats getting damned uppity.”

“I’m exempt from anything I damned will feel like on the grounds that I’ll kick anyone’s ass who says otherwise.”

“Never get attached to possessions…. They’re just things and you can always get more things.”

“Last night I dreamed I was still human, but now I have woken up, into something better. Farewell, my friends, farewell.”

“Who ... what are they?" "My pride and glory," Alex said fondly. "Betty and Lucy Coltrane. Best damned bouncers in the business. Though of course I'd never tell them that. Fiercer than pit bulls and cheaper to run. Married to each other. They had a dog once, but they ate it.”

“There’s nothing like a major emergency and the almost certain death of the whole damned world to concentrate the mind wonderfully.”