“He imagined that the great dark abyss of space was alive and that he might attract its attention if he stared too long into it - that it might twist and stir and fix its pitiless gaze upon him.”

“Individual customs and taboos do sometimes present particular problems - the Dennash, for example, have various rituals associated with passing faecal matter that require considerable space and equipment, as well as a priest.”

“I had them running for two months once, so about one-fifty billion miles a second - those big numbers, sometimes they seem to stare right back at you, don't they?”

“That is not grease upon your person, Mr Gage, it is blood - blood from the endless fight to steal power from a miserly and begrudging universe.”

“Louie liked watching rain - it was always so sad and interesting at the same time, like sitting with a friend who was crying.”

“I thought you killed that boy", he finally grumbled. "I did kill him", Rags said. "Dead as doughnuts. Buried him too, just like you told me." "And you sprinkled the grave site with jalapenos and lemon peel?" "Lemon peel?", Rags stuttered. "I don't remember anything about lemon peel!". Dennis was silent for quite some time. Rags glanced nervously about him, wishing he was anywhere but there. He realized he'd screwed up, but the whole thing was a mystery to him. He was extremely superstitious, but even his ignorance had its limits. 'Lemon peel?' He thought to himself, 'come on, that is just ridiculous'. Dennis might have read his mind, because he spoke up in a slightly louder tone to indicate his maximum rage. "Jalapeno to burn his soul, of course. Lemon peel to keep him in the ground!”

“He who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself; and if you gaze too long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze into you.”