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Thought only gives the world an appearance of order to anyone weak enough to be convinced by its show. Colin Wilson “The Country of the Blind”
The professor said people had the mistaken idea that Poe wrote fantastic stories about the supernatural, when in fact he wrote realistic stories about abnormal psychology.”
“I would like to believe in God,” she said, “because I don’t want to believe we just end, even though it balances the equation—since we came from blackness, it seems logical to assume that it’s to blackness we return. But I believe in the stars, and the infinity of the universe. That’s the great Out There. Down here, I believe there are more universes in every fistful of sand, because infinity is a two-way street.
‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.’ ”
“You’re wearing yourself out. Running your guts to water, my grandmother would have said.”
she got down on her knees, closed her eyes, and folded her hands. Morning and evening prayers had been her analyst’s idea, and when Holly protested that she did not exactly believe in God, her analyst said that a vocalizing of her concerns and plans to a hypothetical higher power would help even if she didn’t. And that actually seemed to be the case.
Once seated at a two-top in the corner, she ordered pancakes (a short stack), a single scrambled egg, and hash browns (the IHOP hash browns were always delicious).
Time had passed, and time probably did heal all wounds, but God, some of them healed so slowly. And the difference between I have and I had was such a gulf.
When it comes to taking care of old people, the government should help regular guys like Claude, but does it? Bullshit it does.”
He’s the best kind of son, Trooper Sipes: hellraiser early, trustworthy later on.”
person did what a person could, whether it was setting up gravestones or trying to convince twenty-first-century men and women that there were monsters in the world, and their greatest advantage was the unwillingness of rational people to believe.
Those murders were committed by an outsider. He uses our modern science—our modern forensics—against us, but his real weapon is our refusal to believe. We’re trained to follow the facts, and sometimes we scent him when the facts are conflicting, but we refuse to follow that scent. He knows it. He uses it.”
When you get old, peace is about all you want.
Then Howie said, “I’m a defense lawyer, son. I can believe anything.”
People are blind to explanations that lie outside their perception of reality. You should never have come looking for me. You never should have even sensed me, no matter how strong his alibi was. Yet you did. Was it because I came to the courthouse?”
Dreams are the way we touch the unseen world, that’s what I believe. They are a special gift.”
If you can’t let go of the past, the mistakes you’ve made will eat you alive.”
“What you’re feeling… and I’m feeling… that’s normal. Reality is thin ice, but most people skate on it their whole lives and never fall through until the very end. We did fall through, but we helped each other out. We’re still helping each other.”
