The pain was her whole world now. Pain and fear.

And now, at last, gaiaphage and Nemesis stood facing each other. “Why didn’t you just . . . fade?” Gaia demanded plaintively. “You hit me,” Nemesis said. It was a little boy’s voice coming from Caine’s mouth. “And that’s not okay.

If God gives you a Quiznos, can I have a bite? No way. You have to pray for your own food.

Numbers still gave Astrid pleasure. That was the great thing about numbers: it required no faith to believe that two plus two equaled four. And math never, ever condemned you for your thoughts and desires.

He's one kind of person, you're another. When life is going along normally, you're sort of the same. But when life turns strange and scary, when there's a crisis, suddenly you're completely different people.

A man without pleasure is a man without any idea what life is about

It's not about who's got powers, morons. It's about who's not afraid. And who's going to do what has to be done.