"Robert Kincaid was as along as it's possible to be—an only child, parents both dead, distant relatives who had lost track of him and he of them, no close friends." (Chapter 1, page 3)

"Robert, there's a creature inside of you that I'm not good enough to bring out, not strong enough to reach. I sometimes have the feeling you've been here a long time, more than one lifetime, and that you've dwelt in private places none of the rest of us has even dreamed about." (Chapter 1, page 7)

"Iowans have their faults, but one of them is not lack of caring." (Chapter 2, page 19)

"Analysis destroys wholes. Some things, magic things, are meant to stay whole. If you look at their pieces, they go away." (Chapter 2, page 39)

"Francesca said nothing, wondering about a man to whom the difference between a pasture and a meadow seemed important, who got excited...