Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (Callahan's Place Trilogy, #1)

by Spider Robinson

"There is that about martial law," said the man in the doorway with sardonic amusement. "It is addictive."

"You see, you're all time-travelers too, traveling through time at a rate of one second per second. In the past few minutes, you've all been made acutely aware of just how much time you've passed through in the last ten years, and it's made you think.

'tis damn well nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, than to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, let 'em lick ya. Nay, fuck that..."

one's own sorrow may be bearable by its familiarity and yet staggering to a stranger.