There’s the lovely power of being a stranger…I may as well have been born again when I stepped ashore.
-- Richard Smtih (chapter 1)

Importance: One of Smith's primary characteristics in the novel is his status as a stranger in the town of New-York. The other characters know nothing of Smith's past or intentions, and for most of the novel, neither does the reader. As this quotation demonstrates, Smith relishes his role as stranger, but over the course of the novel, he comes to realize the dangers that such a position attracts.

There are several categories of thing we would rather you were not. We would rather you were not a spy. We would rather you were not a hireling of the [English] ministry.
-- Septimus Oakeshott (chapter 1)

Importance: Oakeshott says this to Smith during their first encounter. They meet by chance in a coffee shop, and Oakeshott warns Smith that Smith may be an unwelcome presence in New-York...