"The ghost in the Paris Opera existed. Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, even though he gave himself every appearance of a real ghost, a true phantom."

--Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera

"It took Garnier fifteen years to build the Paris Opera House with one hundred and ten architects in tow. When the work was completed one of the architects begged Garnier to let him stay on, hiding from the sunlight like a spider, living under the ground until he died. 'Avez-voux vu le Fantome?' the Paris Opera House staff used to joke as they saw him dart from pillar to pillar..."

"Poor, unhappy Erik! Should we pity him? Should we Curse him? He only asked to be someone like everyone else. But he was too ugly. He had either to hide his genius or play tricks with it, when, with an ordinary face, he would have been one of the noblest members of the human race. He had a heart great enough to hold an empire of the world, and in the end he had to be content with a cellar. Clearly, then, we must pity the Opera ghost."