Afterward, the seven hundred people in the boats had nothing to do but wait: wait to die, wait to live, wait for an absolution which would never come.

More from Titanic

• I can see the Statue of Liberty already!... Very small, of course.
• I don't know about you, but I intend on writing a strongly worded letter to the White Star Line about all of this.
• I’m the king of the world!
• That’s the one good thing about Paris: there’s a lot of girls willing to take their clothes off.
• You shine up like a new penny.
• It's been 84 years, and I can still smell the fresh paint. The china had never been used. The sheets had never been slept in. Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.