Song of Kali Quotes

“The Song of Kali is with us. It has been with us for a very long time. Its chorus grows and grows and grows. But there are other voices to be heard. There are other songs to be sung.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“Sometimes there is no hope," whispered Das.


"There's always some hope, Mr. Das."


"No, Mr. Luczak, there is not. Sometimes there is only pain. And acquiescence to pain. And, perhaps, defiance at the world which demands such pain."


"Defiance is a form of hope, is it not, sir?”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“Are we all illusions? Brief shadows thrown on a white wall for the shallow amusement of bored gods? Is this all?”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“There were reprints of American editorials. Liberals saw it as a resurgence of social protest and decried the discrimination, poverty, and hunger that had provoked it. Conservative columnists acidly pointed out that hungry people don’t steal stereo systems first and called for a crackdown in law enforcement. All of the reasoned editorials sounded hollow in light of the perverse randomness of the event. It was as if only a thin wall of electric lighting protected the great cities of the world from total barbarism.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“During this time I quit attending classes at the university, and my grades rose from four Fs to three Bs and an A.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“I've never been in a place that seemed as mean or shitty, and I've spent time in some of the great sewer cities of the world.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“I wasn't talking about the weather," said Abe. "Although it's the hottest, most humid, most miserable goddamn hellhole I've ever been in. Worse than Burma in '43. Worse than Singapore in typhoon weather. Jesus, it's worse than Washington in August.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“She does speak Bengali, doesn't she?" Morrow had asked over the phone. "Sure," I'd said. Actually, Amrita spoke Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, and a little Punjabi as well as German, Russian, and English, but not Bengali.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“Soon she would have to wake, tend the fire, serve the men, care for the younger children, and face the end of a childhood she had barely known. Soon she would become the property of a man other than her father, and on that day she would receive the traditional Hindu blessing—"May you have eight sons.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“there's still room for writing that holds out some hope for humanity.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“She had changed into shorts and a T-shirt that read A WOMAN'S PLACE IS IN THE HOUSE—AND THE SENATE.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“What in fuck do you fucking well think you're fucking doing?' The officer's broad helmet bobbed as he shouted. I thanked all of the gods that he was not a Sikh.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“I immediately called Abe Bronstein to share the good news. Abe, who was as well known for never rising before ten-thirty in the morning as he was for his sense of good prose, congratulated me and gently pointed out that I had called at 5:45 A.M.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“We lived in Boston, in an apartment where even the rats had to walk stoop-shouldered.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“Don't go, Bobby," said my friend. "It's not worth it.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“Ah, yes, poverty," said Chatterjee and smiled as if the word had deeply ironic connotations. "Indeed, there is much poverty here. Much squalor by Western standards. That must offend the American mind, since America has repeatedly dedicated its great will to eliminating poverty. How did your ex-President Johnson put it . . . to declare war on poverty? One would think that his war in Vietnam would have satisfied him." "The war on poverty was another war we lost," I said. "America continues to have its share of poverty." I set my empty glass down, and a servant appeared at my elbow to pour more scotch.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“Ogni forma di violenza è potere, signor Luczak.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“Sono ancora convinto che vi siano luoghi troppo malvagi perché sia consentito loro di esistere. Di tanto in tanto, sogno nubi atomiche a forma di fungo che levano su una città, e figure umane che danzano sullo sfondo del rogo che un tempo era Calcutta.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“Do you drink Scotch, Mr Luczak?’ Is the Pope Catholic?”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“I think that there are black holes in reality. Black holes in the human spirit. And actual places where, because of density or misery or sheer human perversity, the fabric of things comes apart and that black core in us swallows all the rest.
I read the papers, I look around, and I have a sinking feeling that these black holes are growing larger, more common, feeding on their own vile appetite. They are not restricted to strange cities in distant countries.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“And what, I asked myself, had I done? I would be fifty-four years old in a few weeks, and to what purpose had I spent my life? I had written some verse, amused my colleagues, and annoyed some critics. I had woven a web of illusion that I was carrying on the tradition of our great Tagore. Then I had enmeshed myself in my own web of deceit.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali

“It was as if only a thin wall of electric lighting protected the great cities of the world from total barbarism.”
― Dan Simmons, Song of Kali