- James Murray: Who's she?
- Dr. William Chester Minor: The impossible.
- James Murray: The more impossible, the greater the love.
- Dr. William Chester Minor: Do you truly believe that? My heart is so sick.
- James Murray: Well... what I know of love is that the sickness often becomes the cure.
- Dr. William Chester Minor: It's freedom, Mrs. Merrett. I can fly out of this place on the backs of books. I've gone to the end of the world on the wings of words... . When I read, no one is after me. When I read, I am the one who is chasing--chasing after God.
- James Murray: [When his Oxford interviewers learn he has no university degree] Qualifications? Yes, well, I am fluent in Latin and Greek, of course. Beyond those, I have an intimate knowledge of the Romance tongues: Italian, French, Spanish, Catalan, and to a lesser degree Portuguese, Vaudois, Provençal, and other dialects. In the Teutonic branch, I am familiar with the German, Dutch, Danish, and Flemish. I have specialized in Anglo-Saxon and Moeso-Gothic, and have prepared works for publication on both these languages. I also have a useful knowledge of Russian. I have sufficient knowledge of Hebrew and Syriac to read at sight the Old Testament and Peshito, and to a lesser degree, Aramaic, Arabic, Coptic, and Phoenician to the point where it was left by Gesenius. Forgive me rattling on, I'm sure you have questions.
- Dr. William Chester Minor: The brain is wider than the sky, for put them side by side, the one the other will include, with ease and you beside.
- Dr. William Chester Minor: The brain is just the weight of God, for, heft them pound for pound, and they will differ if they do as syllable from the sound.
- Dr. William Chester Minor: Have you gotten to the "I's" by now? I had some to add to your words. But I can't seem to... I can't seem to find my pens.
- Dr. William Chester Minor: You can leave the lunatic to his delusions.
- James Murray: I came here to see my friend.
- Dr. William Chester Minor: I am no man's friend, I am a murderer. Everything else is make believe. So leave, leave, leave!
- [first lines]
- Lord Chief Justice: Please identify the accused.
- Defence Attorney Clarke: Dr. William Chester Minor, Captain Surgeon in the US Army, retired. Dr. Minor has come to our shores seeking sanctuary. In his home country on the United States, he was pursued relentlessly by a man pledged to torture and kill him.