"But I hold on to the cross with all my strength--one must cling to it like a kitten hanging on to a plank when it falls into the sea."

Brother Edvin speaking to Kristen in Kristin Lavransdatter 1: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset

" 'It means,' said Aslan, 'That though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.' " C.S.Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe