Life would go out in a 'fraction of a second' (that was the phrase), but all night he had been realizing that time depends on clocks and the passage of light. There were no clocks and the light wouldn't change. Nobody really knew how long a second of pain could be. It might last a whole purgatory--or for ever.

All good novelists have bad memories.

We'd forgive most things if we knew the facts.

There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in...We should be thankful we cannot see the horrors and degradations lying around our childhood, in cupboards and bookshelves, everywhere.

One forgets so quickly one's own youth.

He's satisfied with himself. If you have a soul you can't be satisfied.

Oh, I’m not a Berkeleian. I believe my back’s against this wall. I believe there’s a sten gun over there.