Mirage Quotes

“The rabbis told us not to fight back when the Arabs attacked our settlements,’ said Begin mildly. ‘Jews do not bear arms, they said. And we listened to them ... heeded them .... And we died in our thousands! ... We listened to the United Nations when they told us that the British would protect us ... and the British machine-gunned us on the beaches of our promised land .... And we died in our thousands! Now we are nearing the end of a decade in which we did not lift a hand to the most evil aggressor the world has ever known .... And we died in our millions!”
― James Follett, Mirage

“Britain, the United States - the only other major manufacturing countries - operated a curious policy whereby they would sell arms only to those countries that didn’t actually need them or were unlikely to use them.”
― James Follett, Mirage

“Daniel nodded and sat down. ‘Seeing the Earth like that, Rac. I mean - you’ve always known it was just a ball in space. But seeing it for the first time .... It brings it home to you just how bloody stupid and small-minded national boundaries and wars are. We’re a speck of nothingness. We’ve got one tiny planet and all we can do is fight over it and poison it. There’s nothing else we can live on for billions and billions of miles, and only a four-mile layer of the Earth can support us. That’s from sea-level to a height of twenty-thousand feet. Just four miles. Think what a four-mile drive is, Rac - from here to the outside of town. A million years of human history acted out in a microscopic four-mile wide belt - the same one that we’ve got to use for our future ... assuming we’ve got one.’ Raquel had sat opposite Daniel during his outburst. She studied him intently, her eyes large and serious. ‘Do you want to stop this business? Because if you do, I’d be happy to as well.’ ‘I thought you liked adventure and excitement?’ ‘There’s precious little adventure and excitement in what we’re doing, Daniel. I like running this place because I’m with you. That’s all that matters to me now, Daniel - being with you - doing what you want.’ He shook his head, undecided. ‘Right now I don’t know what I want, Rac.’ ‘If you want to carry on, you’ve got to tell them at home what you’re doing. We can’t carry on alone and you know we can’t.’ Daniel smiled and drew Raquel on to his lap. ‘I had a crazy dream of returning home with all the drawings.’ ‘And be hailed as your country’s saviour?”
― James Follett, Mirage