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“Tonight, I’d like to pose a simple question: what is the destiny of the human race?”
“And there’s another great question that should haunt us all: why do we seem to be alone in the universe? Is that a clue to our true destiny?
Owen smiled. “You can read me like one of those books.” “That’s what mothers are for.”
Growing up, Owen’s mother and father never used the word handicap. Limitation—that’s the word they used. Because everyone has limitations.
“Life isn’t about your limitations. They matter far less than you think. You make a living doing what you’re good at. That’s what’s important—your strengths, not your limitations.”
Every human is born with a birthright. That birthright is happiness. Our greatest challenge to achieving happiness is not the obstacles we encounter in our life. The true barrier to happiness lies inside of us—and it’s the one thing we can’t ever escape: our own mind.
we are educated on countless aspects of life, from personal hygiene to personal finance, but there is no widely accepted curriculum for understanding and managing our minds.
Most of all, they were replaceable. Humans were not.
“Okay,” he said slowly, still reading. “I have good news. Great news. Possible non-news. And super, extremely, very, very bad, terrible news.”
“Why not? I always wanted a boat. The Apocalypse sounds like a great time to get one.”
They called it orientation, but let’s face it: orientation is for summer camp, briefings are given to people going into harm’s way—which is the case with The Extinction Trials. It certainly isn’t summer camp.
The long and short is that our world is gone. Over. Ruined. In the toilet bowl.
why would they even name it that? I mean, if you’re a brilliant scientist, can’t you come up with a better name? How can scientists be so good at inventing things and so bad at assigning a sensible title that is user-friendly and indicative of what it is?
Whatever they invented, it had the power to change everything—without permission of the powers that be or the consent of the little people.
For all their big words and white coats and sophistication, it turns out the scientists running the world are just gamblers.
They just did it first. Tonight, they are evil. Tomorrow, they are survivors. The next day? They are visionaries.
What I’d like most right now is to live in a world where I can love with my whole heart. This is not that kind of world.
It’s funny how our minds get locked into our own vision of how things are going to be. If it’s different from that, we resist, even if it’s better.
we don’t always remember people—or what they do to us—but we remember how they make us feel.
The central question of our life is this: how will we spend our time?
And we have one thing at our disposal: time. We say that we spend time for a reason—time is a currency. In the end, it’s the only currency that matters.”
And to some extent, we are the product of how our memories have changed how we see the world and how we behave.”
A mind under stress naturally resists rest. It is a machine that is always on. Yet, often times, the only way to overcome the stress-inducing obstacle is to recharge and achieve greater performance. Therefore, a new perspective must be adopted: that rest is productive, that in times of great stress, rest is often the activity of greatest value.
In life, negative feedback has one role: as clues to greater success. If one can’t act on negative feedback to improve, the most appropriate action is very simple: nothing.
Alister’s pained voice grumbled from farther down the corridor. “Shut up! I’m trying to die in peace over here.”
It’s the real world. A ruined, messed up world, and all we have left is each other—in a world that is out to kill us.
if this is our last stand, we’ll go down with the last thing that matters in this world: our dignity and our humanity. We’ll die the way we lived: with our values.”
“Freedom is an illusion. Freedom is nothing more than a currency—something we spend to get something we want. We’ve always traded some amount of our freedom for the things we need for survival. We trade our freedom for financial compensation when we take jobs. We trade our freedom for safety when we allow police to search our homes and stop us when we’re walking down the street.
She clutched a portfolio in her right hand. It held a printed copy of her resume (which no one ever asked for anymore, but she had the mortal fear of being asked for it and not having it).
“For your first job, don’t pick the one that pays you the most. Or the one where you like the people the most. Pick the one where you can learn the most.”
Caring isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Indeed, those who don’t care are often happier. They’re unburdened by what they encounter in life.
Family is important. That includes the one you’re born into and the one like you all formed during your journey here. In our simulations, family was one of the most powerful factors we ever encountered.”
Will sighed theatrically. “Dr. Young, we’re apocalyptic androids, not fashion innovators.”
“First, you know the future, the broad arc of the human race. Don’t underestimate that. Second, and perhaps most importantly, you have each other. The two of you saved the world before—when so many others failed. And lastly, you have capital.”
The year was 1961, and the city was called San Francisco, and to Owen, it felt like anything was possible.
