Ventus Quotes

“Frankenstein’s monster speaks: the computer. But where are its words coming from? Is the wisdom on those cold lips our own, merely repeated at our request? Or is something else speaking?—A voice we have always dreamed of hearing?”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“The secret to life, she had said, was to find the little things, the unimportant ones that would nonetheless always remind you of the precious things they accompanied—and hold onto them.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“Mediation wishes to speak of other things. So Mediation will quote from an ancient human book. The Hamburg Manifesto says, “Thalience is an attempt to give nature a voice without that voice being ours in disguise. It is the only way for an artificial intelligence to be grounded in a self-identity that is truly independent of its creator’s.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“It’s not that simple.” “Ah! That phrase is Male for ‘I’m afraid to.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“To read is to make love to the world,” he said. “But to make love to a woman is to feel like the world is reading you.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“Gods, one philosophical wag had commented, should conveniently remain on the altar, rather than rampaging indiscriminately across the land. The”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“She herself had told him that you can never hold onto anything. The harder you try, the more precious things slip through your fingers. The secret to life, she had said, was to find the little things, the unimportant ones that would nonetheless always remind you of the precious things they accompanied—and hold onto them. Like the fine furniture her husband had carved for her, seemingly centuries ago.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“They had left the demigod they now called the Voice in a government creche in orbit. The Archipelago had facilities for newly born artificial sentients—a revelation that still astonished and unsettled Marya when she thought about it. The Voice had gone willingly into the maw of the jewellike orbiting structure; as the doors closed she had looked back, but Marya could read nothing in her gaze—neither hope nor fear.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“So now I ask you, what will happen to me? I have fulfilled my purpose, but I can no longer cease to exist by myself. I have inherited Calandria May’s sorrow, and am lost myself without the purpose I once had. I can never be a ship again. So please, I beg you, shut me down now. I never wanted to have a soul.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“Oh, I inherited my emotions from Calandria May, and I understand now that each human has a ruling passion, one that serves as the fountainhead from which flow all semblances of happiness, sadness, anger, and joy.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“But the soldiers would have gladly given up their beds to a woman.” “Yes, and I hate them for it.” She pushed him away. “It’s the arrogance of men that leads them to sacrifice themselves. Not real consideration.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“Armiger leaned over her and kissed her cheek. “Which what do I prefer?” “Do you prefer making love or reading?” He voice held a teasing note, but he had learned there were frequently hidden needs behind her teasing questions. “To read is to make love to the world,” he said. “But to make love to a woman is to feel like the world is reading you.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“Archipelago is the only answer to ruling a population of trillions, who own a million different cultures, mores, and histories.” He shrugged. “It is simple: an artificial intelligence—a mechal brain, if you will—exists and mediates things. It knows each and every citizen personally and orchestrates their meetings with others, communications, and so on in order to avoid irreconcilable conflict. Beyond that, it stays out of sight, for it has no values, no desires of its own. It is as if every person had their own guardian spirit, and these spirits never warred, but acted in concert to improve people’s lives.” “A tyranny of condescension,” said Galas.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“Parliament is a rumor mill staffed by trough-fed clods who abuse the tongue of their birth every time they open their mouths. They all gabble at once and confuse one another mightily, and when this confusion is committed to paper they refer to it as ‘policy.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“The countryside they”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“Every enlightened path can turn on itself and become a new tyranny,”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus

“that we be there to be spoken to than absent to be spoken about.”
― Karl Schroeder, Ventus