Alma Whittaker, born with the century, slid into our world on the fifth of January, 1800.
-- Narrator (Prologue paragraph 1)

Importance: This line introduces the main character of the novel.

For the first five years of her life, Alma Whittaker was indeed a mere passenger in the world-as we all are passengers in such early youth-and so her story was not yet noble, nor was it particularly interesting, beyond the fact that this homely toddler passed her days without illness or incident, surrounded by a degree of wealthy nearly unknown in the America of that time, even within elegant Philadelphia.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1 paragraph 1)

Importance: This quote introduces the authorial voice in the narration as well as the fact that Alma would at some point become the main focus of the novel. It also introduces the tone of the novel.

Henry's deliberately expressionless face made it impossible for anyone to read him, so Banks could not have realized how strikingly this...
-- Narrator (Chapter 2 paragraph 6)