Sasha Romesburg

“I think it is just a matter of getting into the mind of the writer,” Vetinari went on, looking at a letter covered with grubby fingerprints and what looked like the remains of someone’s breakfast. He added: “In some cases, I imagine, there is a lot of room.”
― Terry Pratchett, Making Money

“Imagine you are a machine.

Yes, I know. But imagine you're a different kind of machine, one built from metal and plastic and designed not by blind, haphazard natural selection but by engineers and astrophysicists with their eyes fixed firmly on specific goals. Imagine that your purpose is not to replicate, or even to survive, but to gather information.

I can imagine that easily. It is in fact a much simpler impersonation than the kind I'm usually called on to perform.”
― Peter Watts, Blindsight

“He paid her only the compliment of attention; and she felt a respect for him on the occasion, which the others had reasonably forfeited by their shameless want of taste.”
― Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“I think I’ll call you Cygnus,” Chelsea said.
“The swan?” I said. A bit precious, but it could have been worse.
She shook her head. “Black hole. Cygnus X-1.”
Ah. A dark, dense object that sucks up the light and destroys everything in its path. "Thanks a whole fucking lot.”
― Peter Watts, Blindsight