I shall soon be dead in spite of all."
-- Malone

Importance: This is Malone's first "thought," the opening line, which immediately establishes the context of what is to follow: despite the fact that Malone's first-person perspective prevents the reader from ever actually knowing whether he dies, this quote establishes the overarching theme of the novel, namely, the process of dying and the impact of that knowledge on an individual psyche.

A few words about myself perhaps. My body is what is called, unadvisedly perhaps, impotent. There is virtually nothing it can do.
-- Malone

Importance: Here, Malone chooses to define his personality through his physical affliction: his inability to move or do anything else. This is significant because his bodily impotence translates to his feeling that he is mentally impotent, that he cannot will any goal or desire into fruition.

Live and invent. I have tried. I must have tried. Invent. It is not the...
-- Malone