the voyage out

• "no, no, said rachel, taking her by the wrist. 'we're going to see life. you promised.' 'seeing life' was the phrase they used for their habit of strolling through the town after dark."
  
  "among the promises which mrs. ambrose had made her niece should she stay was a room cut off from the rest of the house, large, private - a room in which she could play, read, think, defy the world, a fortress as well as a sanctuary."
  
  "he wondered why on earth he had asked these people, and what one really expected to get from bunching human beings up together. 'cows', he reflected, 'draw together in a field; ships in a calm; and we're just the same when we've nothing else to do. but why do we do it? - is it to prevent ourselves from seeing to the bottom of things?"
  
  "all articulate thought had long ago deserted her; her heart seemed to have grown to the size of a sun, and to illuminate her entire body, shedding like the sun a steady tide of warmth. 'i'm happy, i'm happy, i'm happy' she repeated. 'i love everyone. i'm happy.'"