When he heard Barta coming with the coffee, he quickly grabbed the hatchet and examined the handle so as to look busy. Barta could never understand that you sometimes had to sit down quietly in order to think properly.
-- Elias (chapter 1)

Importance: This quote represents the overworked and harried character of Elias. He withdraws from his family, and especially his wife, in order to have some semblance of peace and introspection.

He told them the child must be somewhere in one of the houses, that he must have fallen asleep somewhere. If only they would stop carrying on like this and give him a chance to look for the child properly they would soon find him. If only the fog would clear a bit so that everything did not look so misshapen and if only Barta would not keep on walking up and down and calling out as she did. The child was...
-- Elias (chapter 1)