"Father Lankester Merrin died in Georgetown, near Washington, D.C., while attempting to exorcise a 12-year-old child, Regan MacNeil. The name of the spirit that possessed her was Pazuzu, an Assyrian demon traditionally known as the king of the evil spirits of the air. Father Merrin had first encountered this demon in Ethiopia forty years earlier, when it possessed a young African boy. Father Merrin believed the human spirit was on the threshold of a great leap forward—either into goodness or evil. His teachings inspired many disciples, of which I was one, and his death dispirited us deeply. So it was that four years later, I climbed a hill in South America with a heavy heart, for it had fallen to me to carry on Father Merrin's struggle."

"I've flown this route before. It was on the wings of a demon."

"Don't you understand... that I was face to face with the Evil that's inside her. Your machine has proved scientifically that there's an ancient demon locked within her!"

"You realize what you're up against, don't you? Evil. Evil is a spiritual being, alive and living, perverted and perverting, weaving its way insidiously into the very fabric of life."

"The power... it's getting nearer. Can't you feel it? The power is immense. It fills me. I can do anything."

"Marked by Fate, Doomed by Prophecy... Time is Running Out for Mankind!"

"Little Tommy Daggett. How I loved listening to your sweet prayers every night. And then you would jump into bed, so afraid that I was under there. And I was!"

"Do you know what Hell really is, Thomas? It's not lakes of burning oil or chains of ice. It's being removed from God's sight, of having His word taken from you. It's hard to believe, Thomas, so hard. I know that better than anyone."

"[shrill whisper] I love you! I love you more than Jesus!"

"I was the first angel, loved once above all others. A perfect love. [sing-song] But like all true loves... one day it withered on the vine..."

"Other angels have made this war because they hate you, you and all humans. God has put you in His grace and pushed them aside. They're desperate. They've never been able to conquer the other loyal angels, and so this war has remained in stalemate for thousands of years. And while this state of affairs endures, no soul can meet its God. Your parents, and their parents, and so on from the beginning lie still in wormy Earth. Of course, some of them do come to me eventually, for while Heaven may be closed I am always open, even on Christmas."

"Humans... and how I love you talking monkeys for this... know more about war and treachery of the spirit than any angel."