We live in a catastrophic universe - not one of gradualism.
-- Tony FIdo ("The Largess of the Sea Maiden")

Importance: This quote from Tony Fido is important because it espouses a perception of the universe that is so much the opposite of Bill Whitman’s experience of it. For Tony, whose life has been stricken by tragedy, chiefly his mother’s suicide, the universe is an unpredictable and chaotic place where horrible things can happen from one moment to the next and completely shatter your world view. This presents him as the perfect foil to Bill, who actually seems to be living in the universe of gradualism that Tony insists does not exist. Bill finds himself in the unsatisfying position he is in not because of some sort of catastrophe, but because he simply allowed himself to become complacent as he watched the years go by.

I am a prisoner here.”
-- The blond woman ("The Largess of the Sea Maiden")

Importance: Although this quote does not come from Bill...