The Ferryman Quotes
"Everywhere, the sound of the sea, the world’s great metronome, beating beneath a velvety sky of diminishing stars."
"It is not an easy thing, to leave a life, a home."
"Farewell to all of this and all of you, who gave me what passed for a life."
"The lighted tips of the waves and the warm sun falling over us like a benediction."
"To be born in the old-fashioned manner, shot into existence as a wet, squealing nugget, bathed in perfect innocence."
"Love can fail. Children can precede their parents to the grave."
"An infinitude of perfect days, and a dream in which, pinned in the arms of love, I am plunging into stars."
"Time itself has weight. It bears upon the mind—every joy, every regret, every minute of every day adding to the total—until the system by which we sort and file the data collapses in a cascade of confusion."
"The urge to touch her—to run my fingertips along her hull—is so strong I actually do this."
"Time has weight. It bears upon the mind—every joy, every regret, every minute of every day adding to the total—until the system by which we sort and file the data collapses in a cascade of confusion."
"The constant struggle against self-doubt is simply a part of the process and amplifies her elation when everything comes together in the end."
"There's only one thing I can do to help my father now, something I have never done before. I kiss him on the forehead."
"Despite the chaos, retirees have begun to board the ferry, which issues a tart blast of its horn: the three-minute warning."
"You don’t know the first thing about me. Maybe I enjoy shoveling your shit. Maybe I think shoveling your shit is the greatest thing in the world."
"It was as if I were floating, unbound from the earth. A nightmare in which I was flying but could not make myself land and would float away forever."
"Who is this man, standing in the rain? What is wrong with him? Does he have no sense?"
"The nature of the gesture is not lost on me. I have become the parent and he the child."
"The sky, churning with unfallen rain, seems to taunt me."
"I realized that in all our hours together, I’d learned nothing substantive about her at all; I simply hadn’t thought to ask."
"I usually did my best to deflect this question. Ninety percent of the time, telling people what I did for a living was a conversation killer if ever there was one."
"You may want to stick me with the check when you hear it."
"The good news is, you aren’t being charged with a crime."
"It’s just, I’m getting so much work done. Two whole notebooks of new designs! Two!"
"I don’t give a shit." Not entirely true, but it seemed like the right thing to say.
"Part of me wanted to throw my arms around her; another part wanted to march out the door and pretend I’d never seen her."
""Do you realize what it did to me? What it did to him?""
""I understand you’re angry, and you have every right."
""Was it? I wasn’t who you thought I was, but what parents are?""
""How does a dog feel when you take off its leash?""
""Because it has to be. Otherwise, what would be the point?""
""Tell me what our other option is and I’ll listen.""
""So, I won’t be staying here, is what you’re saying. I’m on my way to someplace else.""
""I was right there the whole time, but I left you all alone.""
"The stars shone down in their infinite array upon us."
"The blue star. It presided over the night like the brightest jewel atop the crown of heaven."
"Everything was bathed in a soft, seemingly sourceless light."
"She took my hand and placed it upon the taut, warm curve of her belly."
"We’ve saved her, Proctor. We’ve saved everyone."
"I’m having difficulty processing this. Your brother, Malcolm, was actually married to a real live woman?"
"The woman’s still hopelessly in love with you, you know."
"I’m depositing the last of the plates in the drying rack when two things happen."
"The air is choked with debris—twigs, leaves, pebbles—spattering my face and arms and legs like bird shot."
"I carry her into the house. I am so cold I am nearly insensate; my thoughts feel thick as soup."
"She makes her way along the waterfront, searching for a route."
"They’re not safe here, but where else can they go?"
"She can still smell the fire, hear the screams; she can still see Proctor’s face."
"The street below is empty, no lights anywhere."
"I love you, too." He lifted his eyes. "That’s what I came to say."
"You’re the captain of this ship, am I right?"
"I didn’t want to go aboard the final shuttle, lest I lose my nerve, so I said my last farewells at the air lock."
"Anything I might have said would have felt inadequate, so I embraced him instead, flummoxing the poor man completely."
"Fathers can be sons, and lovers friends, and daughters mothers, and that such words as these tell only half the story, maybe not even half."
"This is what I’m meant to do. It’s been that way from the start."
"A life you would be glad to leave, and a life to make you ready."
"For such a crime as mine, there can be no pardon, save for God’s alone."
"It is my gift to you, that you should be redeemed."
"Death, so that you will cherish the bittersweet beauty of life."
"We are indeed such stuff as dreams are made on, our little life rounded with a sleep."
"The world was in deep trouble; anyone with eyes and half a brain could see that."
"We came from above, from far away; we traveled here aboard a great ship that sailed across the heavens."
"It will be all right, she thinks. That everything will be all right."
"It’s always this way at the start of the school year, a change he welcomes."