Stephen Self > Stephen's Quotes

“Language is the most massive and inclusive art we know, a mountainous and anonymous work of unconscious generations.”
― Edward Sapir, Language: an Introduction to the Study of Speech

“No, friend. We might be talking about the same thing.”
― Liu Cixin, The Dark Forest

“Death is the only lighthouse that is always lit. No matter where you sail, ultimately, you must turn toward it. Everything fades in the world, but Death endures.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“From a scientific perspective, ‘destroy’ isn’t really accurate. Nothing has disappeared. All the matter that used to be there is still there, and so is all the angular momentum. It’s only the arrangement of matter that has changed, like a deck of cards being reshuffled. But life is like a straight flush: Once you shuffle, it’s gone.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“On the tower of values, survival ranked above all. When survival was threatened, all low-entropy entities could only pick the lesser of two evils.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“I think the Zero-Homers are practicing a kind of religion, a kind of performance art.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“But we’ve long been called on to think about matters that belonged to the province of God.”
― Liu Cixin, Death's End

“On Imperial ships, officers were encouraged to drink nutritive beverages instead of consuming food; it was more efficient in terms of both ship resources and officer time, and the medics insisted the nutritives were healthier, too.”
― Claudia Gray, Lost Stars

“Believing in something greater than ourselves isn’t crazy. It’s proof we’re sane. Look how vast the galaxy is. Don’t you have to admit we can’t be the greatest power within it?”
― Claudia Gray, Lost Stars

“I see the darkness within the Empire. How could I not?”
― Claudia Gray, Lost Stars

“Nobody ever knows the whole truth. That’s why promises mean something. Otherwise they’d be too easy, don’t you see? We look toward the unknown future and promise to be faithful no matter what comes.”
― Claudia Gray, Lost Stars

“But you couldn’t look to the fates for justice. You had to take retribution into your own hands. The Empire had taught him that.”
― Claudia Gray, Lost Stars

“He stopped abruptly, and Luz braced for it. The list of the many ways the colonies had benefited from having the Brits and the Spaniards ravage their people and their land. How they should be grateful for the language and the religion imposed on them. How fortunate they were to be allowed on British soil despite their...inadequacy”
― Adriana Herrera, A Caribbean Heiress in Paris

“Lord?” he asked, and Evan’s mood darkened further. The magic word always seemed to work best on the absolutely worst people.”
― Adriana Herrera, A Caribbean Heiress in Paris

“They believe that all beings, regardless of species or gender, are created equal. Surely you can understand that.” It was more a statement than a question, but Des answered anyway. “But all beings aren’t really equal, are they? I mean, some are smarter, or stronger … or better at cards.”
― Drew Karpyshyn, Star Wars, The Darth Bane Series: Path of Destruction, Rule of Two, Dynasty of Evil

“Des shrugged. He didn’t believe much in equality. Working to make everybody equal didn’t leave much chance for anyone to achieve greatness.”
― Drew Karpyshyn, Star Wars, The Darth Bane Series: Path of Destruction, Rule of Two, Dynasty of Evil

“the strength to survive must come from within. Others will always fail you. Friends, family, fellow soldiers … in the end, each person must stand alone. When in need, look to the self. The dark side nurtured the power of the individual.”
― Drew Karpyshyn, Star Wars, The Darth Bane Series: Path of Destruction, Rule of Two, Dynasty of Evil

“Neither I nor the poets I love found the keys to the kingdom of prayer and we cannot force god to stumble over us where we sit. But I know that it's a good idea to sit anyway. So every morning I sit, I kneel, waiting, making friends with the habit of listening, hoping that I'm being listened to. There, I greet God in my own disorder. I say hello to my chaos, my unmade decisions, my unmade bed, my desire and my trouble. I say hello to distraction and privilege, I greet the day and I greet my beloved and bewildering Jesus. I recognize and greet my burdens, my luck, my controlled and uncontrollable story. I greet my untold stories, my unfolding story, my unloved body, my own love, my own body. I greet the things I think will happen and I say hello to everything I do not know about the day. I greet my own small world and I hope that I can meet the bigger world someday. I greet my story and hope that I can forget my story during the day, and hope that I can hear some stories, and greet some surprising stories during the long day ahead. I greet God, and I greet the God who is more God than the God I greet. Hello to you all, I say, as the sun rises above the chimneys of North Belfast. Hello.”
― Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World