The Oracle Quotes

“Omphalos lying in its netted bag on the seat beside him, he sails out of the bay and into the Gulf of Corinth. All around him, there are mountains. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was in a lake, but Sophia told him there’s a passage to the sea. He looks to the west, using the sun at his back as a compass, knowing”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“What’s good is relative. What appears good to the lieutenant is bad for Karl and his people. Germany is going to lose the war anyway”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“Humans are predictable. Their actions can be understood as reflex responses to their egos. And their egos are primed by tribal affiliations. Logic is rarely a consideration. Pride demands they step forward when prudence would have them step back. Being righteous is more important than being right. Their cognitive biases blind them from what should be clear-cut decisions.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“What is it about innocence that makes it so easy for brute beasts to exploit? What is it about innocence that invites oppression? Once”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“War is only possible because of the passion and dedication and utter loyalty… of fools. I guess I finally figured that out.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“To be free is to accept the freedom of others”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“The question then arises: why life? Why is there life in the universe at all? Rather than wondering how life arose”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“When it comes to all the stars in a galaxy”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“survival demands a surge of absolute speed”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“desire is not enough. Good intentions are worthless. Promises are meaningless. They’re words of intent weighed against the unknown of the future. Reality has momentum”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“You.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“Humans desire revenge for a wide range of reasons: justice, deterrence, to satisfy their outrage, to balance the scales and alleviate their own grief, to restore a power imbalance, to gain closure, or to preserve honor, but the most common reason is hatred. For all these reasons, the Oracle sees only one future for Berlin—to be ground into dust. And the Oracle pities both the innocent and the guilty in that city, knowing they will suffer before they die.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“Religion fascinates the Oracle. Being asserted without evidence, it claims infallibility. All must bow. None can question. Religion promotes obedience as the greatest of virtues, which the Oracle considers illogical.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“The suppression of half the population based on their reproductive organs alone seems blisteringly shortsighted and unduly repressive to the Oracle.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“And there it is, a single word that is grossly misplaced—brothers.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“And as for brothers? Anyone who needs to use that term to band men together cannot be trusted.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“Ego has killed more men than all the bullets and bombs in the world combined.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“As much as it hurts, Karl understands Christianity is a religion of convenience. ‘Blessed are the meek,’ only works in a sermon. ‘Love thy neighbor,’ except if he’s Jude or Romani or gay. Love your enemies with the butt of a rifle.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“As an example, did you know the safety switch on a World War II German Mauser was located on the bolt and operated by thumb?”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“I predict that by the time our probe arrives, they will have left their hatred in the past.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“understands how the Führer’s words were always vapid and beguiling.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“What is it about innocence that makes it so easy for brute beasts to exploit? What is it about innocence that invites oppression? Once, Karl loved Germany. Now, he’s not so sure. Now, he understands how the Führer’s words were always vapid and beguiling. Lies are convenient. Lies soothe the soul like a baby sucking on a teat. Lies provide a pretense for the theft of land, wealth, countries and entire cultures. And the cost of those lies? The innocent. The price is exacted from those who deserve better. Lies are paid for with lives like Sophia’s.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“But if there has been one Adolf Hitler, there will be others,” Tor Mah says.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“Putting aside any philosophical issues and personal convenience, life is simply the most efficient means of exploiting the chemical diversity of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Pythian biologists realized that life is astonishingly efficient at distributing atoms in long-chain molecules.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“To be free is to accept the freedom of others, and that means rejecting the desire to control them while protecting them from those who would steal their freedom.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“entire cultures. And the cost of those lies? The innocent. The”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“Humans are storytellers. Whether it is their own history or some imaginary place, such as Mt. Olympus or Hades, they weave narratives around points of view rather than immutable facts. Initially, the Oracle was dismissive of the various myths it learned over thousands of orbits. The plays and legends of humanity seem childlike, but over time, the Oracle learned there was an inherent wisdom in these stories. As outlandish as they seem, they often reveal deep truths about the nature of humanity. It appears that, for all the progress of this species and its emerging civilization, its nature remains etched in the past. The Oracle understands the legends of humanity aren’t true, but that they capture universal truths, and it finds this aspect of humanity fascinating and worthy of transmission back to Pythia.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“Whether it is their own history or some imaginary place, such as Mt. Olympus or Hades, they weave narratives around points of view rather than immutable facts.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“Why would an otherwise learned and intelligent person dabble in make-believe and fantasy? Are these not childish tendencies for an adult? The Oracle understands that it’s not logical, and yet fiction challenges the human mind and allows thinking to be enlarged. Humans are storytellers.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle

“was free. I was sure I was free, but birds will always sing, even in a cage.”
― Peter Cawdron, The Oracle