Inside Man

by K.J. Parker

Clerical work is as close as any of us can hope to get to death: oblivion, the untroubled dreamless sleep of the deskbound.

Contrary to what some ill-informed people would have you believe, we’re passionately committed to freedom of speech. We don’t burn books. Only the people who write them.)

What was the first thing He did? Let there be light. And as soon as you have light, you have its inevitable opposite: the absence of light, the places where the sun don’t shine. Not being stupid, He knew precisely what the consequence would be, but He went ahead and did it anyway. He didn’t actually say, Let there be darkness, but it was very strongly implied, you bet.