Anathem

by Neal Stephenson

boredom is a mask that frustration wears).

They knew many things but had no idea why. And strangely this made them more, rather than less, certain that they were right.

when I saw any of those kinds of beauty I knew I was alive, and not just in the sense that when I hit my thumb with a hammer I knew I was alive, but rather in the sense that I was partaking of something—something was passing through me that it was in my nature to be a part of.

you should not believe a thing only because you like to believe it.

Some things were easier to do alone. Communicating and coordinating with others was often more trouble than it was worth.

And it happened all the time that the compromise between two perfectly rational alternatives was something that made no sense at all.

the evolution of our minds from bits of inanimate matter was more beautiful and more extraordinary than any of the miracles cataloged down through the ages by the religions of our world.