"They came to the high stone shaft with the face of Sul; they descended to the terrace below. And here Caradog waited, leaning on his silver-tipped rod and eyeing the horizon, until the delicate slip of the new moon moved out from behind the shoulder of Mount Damyake, with the mysterious, shadowy ghost of the old moon cradle inside it, like an egg inside its egg cup.

"Now it is time," he said.

"Blame it!" expostulated Dido. "It ain't right for me to die! Have you thought of that, mister? You're and old gager; you've lived nigh on fourscore years, I shouldn't wonder. You did a whole lot of things and learned a lot o' stuff --- though mussy knows, you ain't put it to very good use. But I haven't hardly done nothing! And I ain't learned much, neither, except the use of the globes that Mr. Holy taught me, and how to curtsy and cut up whales."

At the thought of Mr. Holystone her voice, to her shame, began to wobble dangerously; she stopped speaking and drew a deep breath.

"Cease repining, child, and go down those steps," said Caradog. "Do not quarrel with your destiny. If Sul wishes you to die, then it is your time."

Dido remembered the story that Bran had told about the man who picked up the necklace. Well, if it is my destiny, she thought, best not to make a pother about it."
— Joan Aiken (The Stolen Lake)

""One day," she said to herself, "men will learn to split the atom."

"What's an atom?"

"It's the smallest grain of the basic stuff from which we are all made. As cakes are made from flour." Ruth held up her slender, worn hand. Her fingers were transparent against the spring sunshine. "Pull that grain apart, you release a torrent of energy. Like--like an egg hatching. Crash! Out comes and eagle! In the same way--I think--out of each person, each simple, plain person, can come such power that, if properly used, it could shoot an arrow to the sun. Or sow a thousand oak trees and make them grow overnight to the height of a tower. All you need is to harness that force."

Cold Shoulder Road pages 177-178"
— Joan Aiken