Death's End (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #3)

by Liu Cixin

The vibrating silver candelabra hummed, and a wisp of dust that had sat on top of the Great Palace for perhaps a thousand years fell down and drifted into the candle flames, where the motes exploded in tiny sparks.

Was it really so bad to live only half a life? As far as she could see, a considerable number of the people around her lived only half lives. As long as one was good at forgetting and adjusting, half a life could be lived in contentment, even happiness.

All this was based on a single idea: Tomorrow will be better.

But, in our age, conscience and duty are not ideals: an excess of either is seen as a mental illness called social-pressure personality disorder. You should seek treatment.”

Without realizing it, people were no longer searching for real strategic intelligence, but reassurance that they were already on the right course.

Death is the only lighthouse that is always lit. No matter where you sail, ultimately, you must turn toward it. Everything fades in the world, but Death endures.”

Since nothing could exceed the speed of light, if light couldn’t leave the Solar System’s event horizon, nothing else could either. The Solar System would be hermetically sealed off from the rest of the universe. And therefore completely safe—as far as the rest of the universe was concerned.

In the cosmos, no matter how fast you are, someone will be faster; no matter how slow you are, someone will be slower.

Weakness and ignorance are not barriers to survival, but arrogance is.

Carpe diem has always been the right path. Of course there’s not much diem now for carpe, but we need not look for trouble.

A museum was built for visitors; a tombstone was built for the builders.

Do you think if you stand on your hands, you’ve lifted the Earth?

The ultimate fate of all intelligent beings has always been to become as grand as their thoughts.