“Even if all the clocks in the station break down, thought Hugo, time won't stop. Not even if you really want it to.

Like now.”

“I feel like an inadequate machine, a machine that breaks down at crucial moments, grinds to a dreadful hault, 'won't go,' or, even worse, explodes in some innocent person's face.”

“What seems tragic now won't even be an issue in a few years time.”

“Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”

“Before the mind snaps, or the heart breaks, it gather itself like a clock about to strike. It might even be said one pulls himself together to disintegrate.”

“So many times it seemed like there were chances to stop things before they started. Or even stop them in midstream. But it was even worse when you knew in that very moment that there was still time to save yourself, and yet you couldn't even budge.”

“A stopped clock is correct twice a day, but a sundial can be used to stab someone, even at nighttime.”

“I thought I was in love
A couple of times before
With the girl next door.
But that was long before I met you.
Now I'm sure that I won't forget you.
And I thank my lucky stars
That you are who you are.
And not just another lovely lady
Sent down to break my heart.”

“I cannot keep a clock or a watch. They stop on me. Why won't time stay peacefully on my wrist? Is time not interested in me any more because I am dying?”

“It did not seem at all improbable to McCulloch now. The infinite fullness of time brings about everything, he thought: even intelligent lobsters, even a divine octopus.”