Though we became experimental creatures of our own devising, it’s important to bear in mind that we had no inkling of this process, let alone its consequences, until only the last six or seven of our 100,000 generations. We have done it all sleepwa...
I think Dr. Willis McNelly at the California State University at Fullerton put it best when he said that the true protagonist of an sf story or novel is an idea and not a person. If it is *good* sf the idea is new, it is stimulating, and, probably mo...
God is the comic shepherd who gets more of a kick out of that one lost sheep once he finds it again than out of the ninety and nine who had the good sense not to get lost in the first place. God is the eccentric host who, when the country-club crowd ...
IN ONE IMPORTANT WAY, an abusive man works like a magician: His tricks largely rely on getting you to look off in the wrong direction, distracting your attention so that you won’t notice where the real action is. He draws you into focusing on the t...
He can hum the music in his old man's quivering voice, but he prefers it in his head, where it lives on in violins and reedy winds. If he imagines it in rehearsal he can remember every step of his three-minute solo as if he had danced it only yesterd...
My friend Wicker once said to be careful what and how you say what you’re really thinking to a woman. After much screwing up in that department with Emma, I’ve learned it’s not what you should hide, but what you say that makes her react the way...
I’ve got a question for you… Are you the person who you thought you’d be by now? I know I am not. The fact is that life may not be what you thought it would be by now (If It is, I congratulate you & applaud you) You may feel stuck in a job you ...
As part of an effort to prod college seniors to get tetanus shots, a group of students was given a lecture meant to educate them about the dangers of tetanus and the importance of getting inoculated against it. A large majority of those students repo...
As it turned out, almost every notion I had on my 13th birthday about my future turned out to be a total waste of my time. When I thought of myself as an adult, all I could imagine was someone thin, and smooth, and calm, to whom things... happened. S...
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told. Catherine Martin: Mister... my family will pay cash. Whatever ransom you're askin' for, they pay it. Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: It rubs the lotion on its skin ...
John Daggett: What. The hell. Is going on? Bane: Our plan is proceeding as expected. John Daggett: Oh really? Do *I* look like I'm running Wayne Enterprises right now? Your hit, on the stock exchange, it didn't work, my friend! And now you have my co...
Albus Dumbledore: [after Harry confusedly finishes viewing a memory from Dumbledore's pensieve] Confused? I'd be surprised if you weren't. Harry Potter: Well, I don't understand. What happened? Albus Dumbledore: This is perhaps the most important mem...
Sulley: [is fighting the invisible Randall when he is hit with a snowball] Mike? Mike: Look, it's not that I don't care about the kid. Sulley: Mike, you don't understand. Mike: Yes, I do. I was just mad, that's all. I needed some time to think, but y...
Juror #3: It's these kids - the way they are nowadays. When I was a kid I used to call my father, "Sir". That's right. "Sir". You ever hear a kid call his father that anymore? Juror #8: Fathers don't seem to think it's important anymore. Juror #3: [l...
I was lonely, deadly lonely. And I was to find out then, as I found out so many times, over and over again, that women especially are social beings, who are not content with just husband and family, but must have a community, a group, an exchange wit...
You once told me you could stand many things.” My voice was raspy from all the emotions battering against those well-honed inner defenses. “So can I. I can stand whatever Apollyon dishes out, can take the bigotry from others over what I am, the f...
Why are you dressed as a man?" Neeva said. "Why do you act like..." She paused. "Why do you act like... like one of them?" Her voice rose, challenging and accusatory. she said again. "Where women aren't human, aren't people, just things--objects. She...
A Gift for You I send you... The gift of a letter from your wise self. This is the part of you that sees you with benevolent, loving eyes. You find this letter in a thick envelope with your name on it, and the word YES written boldly above your name....
Nick Fury: Why make me head of SHIELD? Alexander Pierce: Because you're the best. And the most ruthless person I ever met. Nick Fury: I did what I did to protect people. Alexander Pierce: Our enemies are your enemies, Nick. Disorder, war. It's just a...
Ed Rooney: Ahem... Mr. Peterson? Cameron: [clears throat] Uhum! Ed Rooney: Uhhm... you know, I-I think I owe you an apology, sir. Cameron: [disguised voice] Well I should say you do! Ed Rooney: I, uh... I-I-I... Cameron: [still disguised] Well, I thi...
Chico: Villages like this they make up a song about every big thing that happens. Sing them for years. Chris Adams: You think it's worth it? Chico: Don't you? Chris Adams: It's only a matter of knowing how to shoot a gun. Nothing big about that. Chic...
