Such an interesting thought, Ferguson said to himself: to imagine how things could be different for him even though he was the same.
-- Narration (chapter 1.2)

Importance: This line directly addresses the main narrative and structural conceit of the novel. The alternate timelines explore how small events and changes in a person's life can lead to significantly altered outcomes.

Ambition meant never being satisfied, to be always hungering for something more, constantly pushing forward because no success could ever be big enough to quell the need for new and even bigger successes.
-- Narration (chapter 1.4)

Importance: This quotation demonstrates Ferguson's reflections on his father's compulsion to constantly be working. Ferguson becomes disillusioned on the idea of ambition, seeing it as the state of never being satisfied.

[Ferguson] was destined to love more than he was loved in return.
-- Narration (chapter 2.1)

Importance: This line refers to Ferguson's relationship with Anne-Marie Dumartin. However, the idea of this line could also apply to his...