Memorable Passages

When I think of memorable passages, the first thing I thought of was the last paragraph of the opening chapter of The Scarlet Letter. The scene opens up at a prison, the beginning of the book. I love that Hawthorn chose to begin his book by presenting a rose to the reader from the setting of the tale. I think its a lovely way to start a rather melancholy narrative.
He describes the rosebush saying,
"This rose-bush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in
history; but whether it had merely survived out of the stern old
wilderness, so long after the fall of the gigantic pines and
oaks that originally overshadowed it, or whether, as there is
fair authority for believing, it had sprung up under the
footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson as she entered the
prison-door, we shall not take upon us to determine. Finding it
so directly on the threshold of our narrative, which is now
about to issue from that inauspicious portal, we could hardly do
otherwise than pluck one of its flowers, and present it to the
reader. It may serve, let us hope, to symbolise some sweet moral
blossom that may be found along the track, or relieve the
darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow" (Hawthorne).

I don't know how to explain why else I like this, I just like it.

The next thing I thought of when contemplating memorable passages was a line from C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity." The book is merely on Christianity. I can't think of a summary that usurps the title. I like this particular passage because it is funny and very British.

He says, "Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church you are really listening-in to the secret wireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going. He does it by playing on our conceit and laziness and intellectual snobbery. I know someone will ask me, "Do you really mean, at this time of day, to reintroduce our old friend the devil-hoofs and horns and all?" Well, what the time of day has to do with it I do not know. And I am not particular about the hoofs and horns. But in other respects my answer is "Yes, I do." I do not claim to know anything about his personal appearance. If anybody really wants to know him better I would say to that person, "Don't worry. If you really want to, you will. Whether you'll like it when you do is another question" (Lewis).Is there really any explanation needed? I love his sense of humor. The final passage that I thought of is something I read quite recently. It is from Miracles by Eric Metaxas. Again, I love his style. He begins by describing water and how amazing water truly is. And then, out of nowhere, he says, "It is not inappropriate to marvel at this" (Metaxas.) I found this memorable because it was funny, true, and rather out of the blue. Speaking of out of the blue, I don't know how to change the font back. . .