May 2010
11 posts
“‘What would you do if I did go down the cliff face?” I asked, expecting no response. Hypothetical questions almost always had as much luck as my time-based queries.
This time he did respond. The seraphic smile and untroubled countenance returned and Alpha said softly, ‘If you try to go down the cliff we will hold you down on the grass, take sharpened stones, cut your throat, and wait until your blood stops flowing and your heart stops beating.”
I said nothing. I wondered if he could hear the pounding of my heart at that moment. Well, I thought, at least you don’t have to worry any longer that they think you are a god.
The silence stretched. Finally AI added one more sentence that I have been thinking about ever since. ‘And if you did it again,’ he said, ‘we would have to kill you again.”
We stared at each other for some time after that; each convinced, I am sure, that the other was a total idiot.” — Hyperion
This time he did respond. The seraphic smile and untroubled countenance returned and Alpha said softly, ‘If you try to go down the cliff we will hold you down on the grass, take sharpened stones, cut your throat, and wait until your blood stops flowing and your heart stops beating.”
I said nothing. I wondered if he could hear the pounding of my heart at that moment. Well, I thought, at least you don’t have to worry any longer that they think you are a god.
The silence stretched. Finally AI added one more sentence that I have been thinking about ever since. ‘And if you did it again,’ he said, ‘we would have to kill you again.”
We stared at each other for some time after that; each convinced, I am sure, that the other was a total idiot.” — Hyperion
“I am what her savage loving has made me.”
—Samuel Beckett, regarding his mother. (via whokilled)
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
—Benjamin Franklin (via tmblg)
“To ignore our opportunities for knowledge, imperfect as they are, is like going to the theater and and not listening to the play.”
—Bertrand Russell (via tmblg)