How we cite our quotes: (Volume.Chapter.Paragraph.)
Quote #1
Roark's words were like the steps of a man walking a tightwire, slow, strained, groping for the only right spot, quivering over an abyss, but precise. (1.8.23)
Rand uses a metaphor of a tightrope walker to describe Roark's tense manner of speaking. She also compares misspeaking to falling into "an abyss": you better believe that Ayn Rand was a firm believer in saying the exact right thing.
Quote #2
Then the thing which happened hit Peter on the back of the head; it was not a sound or a blow, it was something that ripped time apart, that cut the moment from the normal one preceding it. (1.9.52)
The rather lengthy descriptions of Toohey speaking at a rally are kind of terrifying. Toohey here comes across as a force of nature capable of ripping time apart, like a philosophical atomic bomb.
Quote #3
"I think it would have been better if you hadn't told me that you liked me. Then I would have had a better chance of its being true." (1.10.97)
Here Dominique proves herself to be a certified cynic: according to Dominique the best way to be assured that someone doesn't like you is for them to tell you that they do like you.