David

“Insult, like many such feelings, is experienced in the soul of the person addressed; it is not something that can be granted or withheld by the person doing the addressing.”
― Iain M. Banks, Surface Detail

“I hope you theorists know what you’re doing.’ ‘I can assure you that we don’t. The geometry is still beyond us. All I learnt in the void was that our best guess so far is certainly wrong.”
― Greg Egan, Incandescence

“And in all of this, to what end?” “No end save itself: I pass the time to pass the time, and stay involved to stay involved.” “Yes, but why?” “Why not?”
― Iain M. Banks, The Hydrogen Sonata

“One should never mistake pattern … for meaning.”
― Iain M. Banks, The Hydrogen Sonata