Endymion (Hyperion Cantos, #3)

by Dan Simmons

But as with so many things in our lives, the reason for doing something is not the important thing. It is the fact of doing that remains.

I was not surprised to wake up alive. I suppose one is surprised only when one awakens dead.

The very thought of mixing government and religious opinion was barbaric

‘To folly,’ he said. ‘To divine madness. To insane quests and messiahs crying from the desert. To the death of tyrants. To confusion to our enemies.’

Information is always to be treasured, Raul. It is behind only love and honesty in a person’s attempt to understand the universe.

This is the way I swam north, pausing, floating, kicking, cursing, swimming a few meters, pausing again to twist in circles waiting for the next attack.

The universe is indifferent to our fates. This was the crushing burden that the character took with him as he struggled through the surf toward survival or extinction. The universe just does not give a shit.

I heard the hiss and felt the blessed numbness spreading. If there is a God, I thought, it’s a painkiller.

Life is brutal that way . . . the loss of irrecoverable moments amid trivia and distraction.

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.