The Destroyer of Worlds (Lovecraft Country #2)

by Matt Ruff

Power is what matters. Without power, bravery and anger will just get you hurt, or killed.”

everybody believes God is on their side, and everybody thinks it’s silly that other people believe God is on their side.

“It’s the folks who think they have it all figured out who have the hardest time,” she said. “When they find out what they believe isn’t so, they panic; instead of changing the way they believe, they jump from one certainty to another—usually a negative one.

But if you’re asking me, do I think God is an old man with a beard who’s got nothing better to do than worry about my problems . . . Well, no. I think He has to be more than that. A lot more. The creator of an infinite universe would have to be infinite too, every bit as strange and hard to comprehend, and just as full of surprises.”

So when you feel yourself despairing, remember that just because you can’t think of a reason to hope, doesn’t mean there isn’t one.

God gave us the Commandments to live by, not to die by. If it’s a matter of survival, you can break any and all of them, save one.

“I know there are white folks who are as sick of the color line as we are. But it’s a lot easier to do what your heart says is right when your wallet agrees.

“Yeah, I take your point.” Rollo nodded. “And you’re right—you could use Vishnu’s words to justify pretty much any war crime you liked. That’s the thing about scripture: the devil can quote it too.

God was the illusion; death was real; and the worlds that it destroyed were destroyed forever.