Matt Rixon

“Still the dream persists, suppressed but always there, that somehow by some miraculous effort of the heart what was done could be undone. What form would such atonement take that would turn back time and bring the dead to life? None. None possible, not in the real world. And yet in my imaginings I can clearly see this cleansed new creature steaming up out of myself like a proselyte rising drenched from the baptismal river amid glad cries.”
― John Banville

“It’s difficult to turn from the promise of retribution. Even if it’s the barest promise.”
― Sarah MacLean, No Good Duke Goes Unpunished

“Reinette: One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel.”
― Steven Moffat

“I’ll wait for you. Come back.
The words were not meaningless, but they didn’t touch him now.
It was clear enough - one person waiting for another was like an arithmetical sum, and just as empty of emotion.
Waiting.
Simply one person doing nothing, over time, while another approached. Waiting was a heavy word.”
― Ian McEwan, Atonement