People From Minnesota

"Your family excels at being a pain in my ass. Are you certain you’re not part Dutch?"

"Heartlessness wasn’t the sole province of the rich."

"“What the hell was that?” “That was a close call wrapped in some very unpleasant philosophical questions.”"

"Salazar consulted the map again. “Almost there,” he whispered. “Just another mile.” Arthur sighed. “Wonderful.” Anastasia rounded on him. “Go wander the tunnels on your own, you useless pencil pusher. You have zero skills of value to offer to our current situation. Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but of all the problems currently facing the city, the Guild, and the Empire, not to mention ourselves, a lack of properly filed paperwork is not one of them.”"

"“Absence of proof,” said Bell, “is not proof of absence.”"

"“Sergeant,” she said as they mounted the stairs leading to her old apartments, “thank you for treating me like a human being. And, for what it’s worth, I am sorry about how this turned out.” He grunted. “It can’t be undone,” was all he said."

"He’d expected torture. He hadn’t expected surgery."

"Because the universe was a cold, callous place. And they had just peered into the gulf separating the astronomically unlikely from the truly impossible."

"Sometimes the contortions required to spit on Occam’s razor were just as disturbing as the insights one yearned to avoid."

"“It’s a debate,” he spat, “over truth. Which truth is more true? The inspiring myth or the bleak, blood-caked reality?”"

"The fallacy of your personal bias is inherent in your choice of words."

"We’ve drawn attention to ourselves with our obsessive need to stay inconspicuous."

"I am a pragmatist, said Mab. I do what must be done to make a better world. “Oh, I’m sure you tell yourself that. But so does the woman who tortured Lilith. You sound exactly like her, in fact. The difference is that Berenice actually means it. She doesn’t use the pretense to justify her cruelty.”"

"“Have you any idea how long and painful my convalescence was?” Berenice shrugged. “Have you any idea how little I care?”"

"And, as was so often the case, the history taught to children was oversimplified, watered down, and ofttimes counterfactual."

"You’re no stranger to spinning gold from the hay of human misery, are you?"

"How could you comprehend things whose existence you doubt?"

"Huygens, there are times when I take comfort in my sinful nature, for it means I’ll meet you in hell. I’ll be the one stomping on your jewels with singular dedication."

"First, the fact he awoke at all. Cogito, ergo how the hell aren’t I dead?"

"Every additional second the king didn’t take a bullet in the eye seemed a good sign."

"I’ve learned to be wary when something makes you this excited."

"“If you’re going to insist on giving perfectly logical and reasonable answers to stupid questions,” she said, “you may put a dent in my delusions of genius.”"

"Only a fool wasted energy on things he could not control."

"Toni Morrison, Kay Boyle, Philip Roth, Peter Matthiessen, Anne Tyler, and Rosellen Brown read an unknown manuscript and responded with those quotes and marks of approval that appear on book jackets. These were completely unsolicited and I still find it remarkable that these writers, overwhelmed with pleas and manuscripts, picked up Love Medicine and responded. There were a great number of people kind along the way. One hears much more about the egomania and posturing of writers than one does about the devotion that writers have for one another's work."

"I know the world does not need another book from me, but I have nothing else to do with myself. I have no hobbies. So then I feel guilty when I say to my agent, ‘I seem to have another book ready if you want to take a look at it…’"

"I am very comfortable writing as a man, and I think that’s because I had really good men in my life. They made me feel comfortable and I thought, ‘OK, they’re not so different from me…’"

"…‘I think I was a better writer when I was younger.’…I was more detailed, I took more time. It’s not as if I’m in a rush now, but I trust the reader more. I don’t feel like I have to say that much about the character’s inner feelings. But then as I read The Accidental Tourist I thought, ‘Well, it’s kind of nice to see all of Macon’s inner feelings there.’"

"I’m more in touch with my emotions and the visceral sensory from childhood than any other part of life. I don’t know if it helps with creativity, but I do know that when I talk to other writers they talk about their childhood in great detail."

"The observer who follows, from a distance, events in contemporary Germany experiences above all a feeling of disbelief."

"Philosophy is the attempt to formulate principles or categories which the philosopher already possesses, in common with everyone else, but in an unformulated state."

"The philosophy of Hegel shares two traits with the thought of the great moderns who preceded him: a conscious concern with method, and the application of method to the construction of a philosophical system. In these respects Hegel profited by the efforts of his predecessors, in that he saw clearly the great common danger of method and system; namely, that both have a tendency to narrowness."

"The idea of an object is the idea of its effects, of what it will do, and of what will happen to it, under various conditions."

"Mr. Arnold is very outspoken and somewhat bitter in his opinions of the leaders of the U.S. Army Air Forces and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for not having made an investigation of this matter sooner. To put all of the statements made by Mr. Arnold in this report would make it a voluminous volume. ... Mr. Arnold stated that his business had suffered greatly since his report on July 25 due to the fact that at every stop on his business routes, large crowds of people were waiting to question him as to just what he had seen. Mr. Arnold stated further that if [at any time in the future, he saw anything in sky, he would never say a word about it], due to the fact that he has been ridiculed by the press to such an extent that he is practically a moron in the eyes of the majority of the population of the United States."

"What you observed, I am convinced, is some type of jet or rocket propelled ship that is in the process of being tested by our government or even it could possibly be by some foreign government."

"You are advised that I have no knowledge of the origination of the flying saucers stories. My intelligence personnel have had several pertinent incident[s] brought to their attention by civilian and government agencies. For your information, this headquarter, in the interest of economy, does not intend to pursue each and every reported flying disc. However, in the interest of national defense, reliable reports of such a nature will be investigated. I have no knowledge at this time of any statement to be made by a government agency regarding the flying discs. As you know, there is no censorship on individual[s] within the United States, therefore you may feel free to interrogate Mr. Arnold, Capt. Smith or whoever you desire."

"… well, right here we’ve seen something, I’ve seen something, hundreds of pilots have seen something … in the skies. We have dutifully reported these things. And we have to have 15 million witnesses before anybody is going to look into the problem … seriously? Well this is utterly fantastic. This is more fantastic than flying saucers or people from Venus or anything as far as I am concerned."

"A great man is the unbelieving man; he is without spiritual sight or spiritual hearing; his glory is in understanding his own understanding. It is he who subdues the forest, tames the beasts of the field to service. He goes alone in the dark, unafraid. He follows no man’s course, but, searches for himself; the priests cannot make him believe, nor the angels of heaven; none can subdue his judgment. He says: why permit others even priests, to think for you? Stand on your own feet – be a man. Through his arm are tyrants and evil kings overthrown. Through him are doctrines and religions sifted to the bottom and the falsehood and evil in them cast aside. Who but the Creator could have created so great a man as the unbeliever?"

"Several witnesses to saucer phenomena elsewhere told me that after their stories were published they received correspondence from Arnold urging them to disclose full information."

"Once again, we can be sure that these Canadian blue-green-purple globes are not meteors, nor are they fragments of a comet or Venus. What, then, are they? Spacecraft from another world?"

"If our government knows anything about these devices, the people should be told at once. A lot of people out here are very much disturbed. Some think these things may be from another planet. But they aren't harming anyone and I think it would be the wrong thing to shoot one of them down – even if it can be done. Their high speed would completely wreck them."

"Since my first observation and report of the so-called 'flying disks' I have spent a great deal of money and time thoroughly investigating this subject... It may be of interest to you to know there is a connection between tremendous amounts of furnace slag which is being found in giant dumps on our ocean floor, strange submarines, rocket ships and flying disks... There is no doubt in my mind but what these objects are aircraft of a strange design, and material that is unknown to the civilization of this earth."

"[The sighting] did not particularly disturb me at the time, except that I had never seen planes of that type. ... I never could understand at that time why the world got so upset about 9 disks, as these things didn't seem to be a menace. I believed that they had something to do with our Army and Air Force. ... [Naturally,] if it's not made by our science or our Army Air Forces, I am inclined to believe it's of an extra-terrestrial origin. ... I think it's something that is of concern to every person in the country, and I don't think it's anything for people to get hysterical about. That's just my frank opinion of it."

"It is with considerable disappointment you cannot give the explanation of these aircraft as I felt certain they belonged to our government. They have apparently meant no harm, but used as an instrument of destruction in combination with our atomic bomb the effects could destroy life on our planet. ... We have not taken this lightly. It is to us of very serious concern, as we are as interested in the welfare of our country as you are."

"Arnold's account of this [Maury Island] investigation in Fate is a real cloak-and-dagger epic, and he mentions that while flying to the scene of the investigation he spotted another covey of some twenty-five flying disks. ... a Government investigation indicated that Arnold probably had run up against an elaborate hoax."

"[They were flying at incredible speed. I cannot hazard a guess as to what they were. My inquiries at Yakima last night brought only blank stares, but I spoke today with a man from Ukiah, south of here, who said he had seen similar objects over the mountains near Ukiah yesterday.] It seems impossible, but there it is."

"[They appeared to fly almost as if fastened together – if one dipped, the others dipped too.]"

"... I looked at my watch and it showed one minute and 42 seconds. Well, I felt that was pretty fast and I didn't stop to think what the distance was between the two mountains. ... they sure must have had a tailwind, but it didn't seem to help me much. But to the best of my knowledge, and the best of my description, that is what I actually saw, [and,] like I told the Associated Press, [I'd] be glad to confirm it with my hands on a Bible because I did see it, and whether it has anything to do with our army or our intelligence or whether it has to do with some foreign country, I don't know. But I did see it and I did clock it and I just happened to be in a beautiful position to do it and it's just as much a mystery to me as it is to everyone else who's been calling me the last 24 hours, wondering what it was."

"I haven't had a moment of peace since I first told the story, ... This whole thing has gotten out of hand. I want to talk to the FBI or someone. Half the people I see look at me as a combination Einstein, Flash Gordon, and Screwball. I wonder what my wife back in Idaho thinks. Most people tell me I'm right."

"They flew like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water."

"Almost from the moment that Kenneth Arnold’s “flying saucer” ... hit the newspapers, this field has been plagued with fakers, liars, charlatans and hoaxers. They have made up their experiences, their expertise, their military service and they have been believed by millions, even when exposed for the frauds they are. ... Before the ink was dry on the Arnold report, there were those who had met the alien creatures piloting those interstellar craft, who had ridden in them, or had seen them crash. Some of those tales were so outrageous that they were nearly impossible to believe, but believe them, some did."