"Oh ye! who all life's energies combine The fadeless laurel round your brows to twine, Pause but one moment in your brief career, Nor seek for glory in a mortal sphere."

"Because there are no second chances. Which is the most tragic sentence I think English can form."

"::::And on the surface of the ancient home, they die in scores of wars and by legions of plagues, and against the poets’ and prophets’ promises for unity born in fear of doomsday, they fight like Tyrannosaurs raging and ripping the life from each other’s scaly necks while the comet smote the firmament, and murdered the skies to doom them all."

"The more things change, the more the speed up in changing."

"The creature with the strongest armour has the softest innards."

"Novels are long-term relationships, and short stories are flings. In art, as with life, I always opted for relationships."

"Pain is too strong and life is too brief, brother, to avoid the pleasures that don’t hurt us."

"She is being like jewelled dagger. Dazzles eye, but slits throat."

"T*Truth: “Truth means that which actually is, as opposed to lies, incorrect beliefs, fantasies or foolishness, and exists independently of thinkers.”"

"“We have a maxim,” says Thag. “Find the tallest structure, and you will know who runs the world.”"

"When we are creating art, we’re not forensically documenting reality, but rather creating doodles and caricatures expressing often passionate arguments about how one could view the world, but not necessarily our own true convictions."

"Q*Question: “To question is to seek information so as to expand intelligence. Failing to question is to stagnate or destroy intelligence.”"

"Amazing how not censoring myself puts me in a good mood."

"There’re two reasons those cubs were able to help anybody. They believed the same thing, and they were organised. That’s the rule of history. Without people, Harq, nothing happens… but without organisation, nothing lasts."

"I’m not converting to anything, for anybody. Ever."

"But why? I asked. Since before I was born, why this mission of destruction? What threat could we possibly pose to him? Anyone who shows he can survive outside the realm of Set, proves it can be done. That another, better world is possible…there is no greater threat to a tyrant than this truth."

"We expect you to debate everything. Question it all. Turn it upside down. They are your tools for investigating the universe. Don’t hide em away. Use them, all the time. The truth can always be questioned. Only lies die in the light."

"But khetiuta as insane as they were? They slithered with snakes just as full of isfet as they were. Khetiuta looking to make names for themselves, who didn’t know shit about cause and effect, or that every time they aimed the barrel, it stared back at them. And men too stupid to know that were dangerous beyond measure."

"“You’re still down with NWA?” “Why not?” He didn’t even mess with Moon’s implication. “The beats are dope. And they’ve got great flow. You can’t deny that.” “Hitler had great flow, too. And way more fans.”"

"And then once you started overturning everything, how are you sposta to know when you could stop?"

"Your spirituality is what you do with the fires that burn within."

"“Raiders?” “Gun men. Men who plannedt to kill us or rape us or sell us into slavery, or rape us and then kill us—” “Who were they? I mean, which side were they on?” “Men with guns are always on the same side,” she said. “Whoever paidt for the guns.”"

"Them boys are so street they aint got asses—they got asphalt!"

"Rap knew he was expected to say something. Knew what Moon taught him: if all you’ve got is dumb answers, ask a smart question."

"No such things as magic or miracles, the old man’d told him. Just the universe giving you endless chances to reflect and learn something through your Daily Alchemy. Up to you whether you actually did."

"“C’mon, now. You know I’m right. Look at history. How many butchers got butchered? How many super-thieves paid back the people they ripped off and then set the people up in mansions? And how could anybody ever pay you back for taking the life of someone you loved? “So Golden Falcon prepares us. Says, ‘forget payback. Forget ‘good triumphs over evil. Ain’gon happen. South Africa after apartheid? Right. Got millions who can’t even count on water or electricity. “So the story shoves our faces right in it: what it takes to turn people into the Destroyer. That if we keep lusting for revenge cuz justice is denied, we will become Destroyers. Probably of everything we believe in and everybody we care about.”"

"I’m a daughter, like all mothers are. And I’m a sister. One day I might even be a mother myself. So even though I’ve got rights and responsibilities in two of those roles now, I’m also preparing for the rights and responsibilities I’ll have as a mother."

"Maybe if they weren’t constantly being injection-fed MTV/MuchMusic bling and videhoes, some of them’d dream of becoming scientists instead of…whatever the hell it was they dreamed of."

"“You know what supernovas are?” “Yeah,” said JC. “Like, super-duper huge mega-stars. That explode.” “That’s right, young brother. Where’d you learn that?” “Star Trek,” he said. “Good,” chuckled Mr. Ani. “Me too, probably. In the olden days. So let’s transform all this. “People are born lead, and most people stay that way their whole lives. They’re the Leadites. “And they’re easily led astray by those who’re turned into—or who turn themselves into—the Pyrites. The Pyrites are like pirates because they hijack people, keep em hostage, steal their treasure, and prevent them from ever getting where they’re supposed to go, even dumping them on islands in the middle of nowhere or drowning them at sea. “And any gold they find, they steal it and hoard it, and even bury it in chests under the sand.” The boys nodded, grasping fragments, knowing that others were just beyond their fingertips. “So who’s left? Gold. From supernovas, light-sources so powerful they can outshine entire galaxies. Gold is knowledge: the most precious thing in the universe. “If you have everything and don’t have knowledge, you can’t use what you do have or appreciate how much it’s worth, so to you, it’s actually worthless. If you don’t have true gold, you spend your whole life chasing after and stockpiling pyrite thinking it’s worth something, when actually, it’s worth nothing.”"

"“You think this is what the gods want? What the gods won’t punish?” Great. One of those religious weirdos. “Gods this” and “punish that.” At least in my mum’s camp, I didn’t have to listen to that crap. She used to laugh at people like that. “What good are the gods?” she’d say. “Don’t be thanking them. I’m the one who got you this food.”"

"There’re two types of the people in the world. Those who do what they say they’re gonna do, and everybody else."

"The two former lovers finally looked at each other, their faces crawling with the crabs of conflicting emotion."

"The Master said, “The ancestors scatter their wisdom like a sower his seeds, and those who would feast must first sweat beneath the sun.”"

"Hnossi glowered at her daughter, a look cold enough to freeze sunshine and shatter it on the pavement."

"That diabolical deviant is smarter than he smells."

"Sometimes we take an extreme position in art, but that may have more to do with expressing our emotions at the time of creation than of our true moral or strategic convictions."

"When dysfunctional self-distraction devolves into delusional self-destruction, neurosis turns into psychosis."

"The actual world isn’t solidly real for you if you’ve been treading water in an ocean of lies your whole life."

"“Never,” said the man to Rap’s silent consideration, “underestimate the stupidity of anybody who wants to be a saviour.”"

"When people are suffering, they usually hurt the people closest to them, because those are the only ones left around."

"But women aren’t like, like…computers or suh’m. You can’t just get an access code and then programme em to do what you want em to. Trust me. About three billion guys’ve had to learn the same lesson."

"We spent too much damn time getting down. Now it’s time to get up."

"J*Justice: “Justice is equality of rights in treatment, proportionate compensation for labour and punishment for crime, and compassion and relief for sufferers.”"

"It’s inevitable that worship decays into contempt, because worship is ultimately about being trapped, being a slave."

"Believing in anyone more than you believe in yourself causes you to suspend your own judgment, which leads to counter-self-actualization, or self-deactivation."

"The id isn’t satisfied with “enough,” because enough is never enough. The id always needs more, or specifically, more than anybody else. So “enough” becomes “more than” which becomes “all.” And even then, the id fears that all can be taken away; therefore crushing the capacity of others to resist becomes paramount."

"Even if victory were possible, it still couldn’t provide meaning or genuine happiness, because saying “I want to be the best” is simply the polite way of saying “I want everyone else to be worse.”"