First lines I'd like to have written

According to Donald Maass, “The best first lines make us lean forward, wondering, ‘What the heck does that mean?’ ... The one thing all good first lines have in common is the intrigue factor.”

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness .....

He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad. Scaramouche.

And inevitably ... “Call me Ishmael.”