“But let me be a lover in the Savage Garden with you, and the light that went out of life would come back in a great burst of glory. Out of mortal flesh I would pass into eternity. I would be one of you.”

“The hell you pass through is not as severe as the one you would create for yourself out of it.”

“You've done what?"
"I know," he said. "You're impressed. You send me out for bread and I come back with a boy. Well, not literally. That would be weird. Even for me.”

“First, I would like to tell you that I came to carry out the struggle, not to kill people. Even now, and you can look at me, am I savage person? My conscience is clear.”

“The numbness of his loss had passed, and the pain would hit me out of nowhere, doubling me over, racking my body with sobs. Where are you? I would cry out in my mind. Where have you gone? Of course, there was never any answer.”

“Imagine the joy of living in a world without fear! No animals would harm you. Even the mosquitoes would not bite. All the animals would desire your company and come to you as you walk in the garden. I imagine that Cain and Abel had pet dinosaurs to ride around outside the Garden. One day God will restore the earth to the pre-Flood Garden of Eden conditions and let His faithful servants rule and reign with Him for a thousand years!”

“I held out my dad’s magic box and let it o, sure it would smash to the floor. Instead, the box disappeared.
“Cool,” I said. “Sure you I can get it back?”
“No,” Bast said. “Now come on!”

“There was no point in making myself suffer unnecessarily. As a mortal, there would be pain enough in my life, whether I sought it out or not.”

“Ah, my friend, if you and I could only
Get out of the war alive and then
immortal and ageless all of our days,
I would never again fight among the foremost
Or send you into battle where men win glory.
But as it is, death is everywhere
In more shapes that we can count,
And since no mortal is immune or can escape,
Let's go forward, either to give glory
To another man, or get glory from him.”

“I would have rather felt you round my throat
Crushing out life, than waving me farewell!”