The Holy Machine Quotes

“Why do we struggle so much? Why do we demand so much of life, when the happiest moments are when nothing is happening at all?”
― Chris Beckett, The Holy Machine

“Which is the more useful, the scientific world-view, with all its wonderful technical miracles, or the religious world-view, with its sense of purpose and belonging?”
― Chris Beckett, The Holy Machine

“Terrible things are done in the name of religion, without a doubt, but it was not religion but science that brought the world itself to the brink of destruction.”
― Chris Beckett, The Holy Machine

“Now you're being sentimental, Marija. You shouldn't waste your pity on machines! If you want to pity someone, pity the poor guestworker who's chucked out of the territory when they build a robot to do his job! Pity the janitors, the nightwatchmen, the dustcart drivers. My God, even the whores have been put out of business now! We live in a country where we even fuck machines!”
― Chris Beckett, The Holy Machine

“The Holy ... Machine?" I mumbled.
"Yes." She gave a little laugh. "A great miracle. He is a kind of robot, but God has given him a soul - and not an ordinary human soul either, but the soul of a saint or an angel!"
"But ... I thought robots were ... bad ..."
"Yes, of course, and Mary Magdalene was a whore. To God, all things are possible.”
― Chris Beckett, The Holy Machine