How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Working under the river they were subject to horrible destinies [...] One day there was a blowout so explosive that it sucked four workmen out of the tunnel and blew them through twenty feet of river silt and shot them up threw the river itself forty feet into the air on the crest of a geyser. Only one of the men survived. (13.1)
Yeah, work was dangerous back then. Really dangerous. And it wasn't like you had life insurance either. You went to work and tried to put food on the table and some days you just didn't come home. And if you weren't willing to do that, there were plenty of people willing to take your place.
Quote #5
[Morgan] thought he saw in Ford's use of men a reincarnation of pharaohism. Not only that: he had studied photographs of the automobile manufacturer and had seen an extraordinary resemblance to Seti I, the father of the great Ramses... (19.5)
There's having a high opinion of yourself, and then there's thinking you're a person who's reincarnated over and over again to give mankind a helping hand. Faced with the fact he's getting on in years (and scared of mortality) Morgan cooks this idea up in order to explain his and Ford's greatness.
Quote #6
Reincarnation is the only belief I hold, Mr. Morgan. I explain my genius this way—some of us have just lived more times than others. (20.15)
That's Ford explaining why he's been able to do things he's done. Like Morgan, his explanation is the fact that he's been here before. A comforting thought when you know that someday, like everyone else, you're gonna die.