Rest you here, enchanter, while the light fades, Vision narrows, and the far Sky-edge is gone with the sun. Be content with the small spark Of the coal, the smell Of food, and the breath Of frost beyond the shut door. Home is here, and familiar thing...
Yea, she hath passed hereby, and blessed the sheaves, And the great garths, and stacks, and quiet farms, And all the tawny, and the crimson leaves. Yea, she hath passed with poppies in her arms, Under the star of dusk, through stealing mist, And bles...
The thing people don't understand about an army is its great, unpunctuated wastes of inaction: you have to scavenge for food, you are camped out somewhere with a rising water level because your mad capitaine says so, you are shifted abruptly in the m...
I think the measure of advancement depends on where you are stood and from what distance you look. A thousand years ago, we farmed the fields, built towns and defended our land with swords and spears. It is little different now, save for the number o...
Late one night, during a toss-and-turn fretful sleep, I pondered my crisis. No solutions were on the horizon. I, again, wasted my psychic energy with prayer. Nothing. No angel on a white cloud. No rainbow’s pot of gold. No way to control the people...
Normally, when you challenge the conventional wisdom—that the current economic and political system is the only possible one—the first reaction you are likely to get is a demand for a detailed architectural blueprint of how an alternative system ...
[Jürgen Habermas' obituary to friend and philosopher, Richard Rorty] One small autobiographical piece by Rorty bears the title 'Wild Orchids and Trotsky.' In it, Rorty describes how as a youth he ambled around the blooming hillside in north-west New...
Going through the customs dampened them further. Customs inspectors must have a mental twist that makes them suspicious of innocence. Dewy-eyed honeymooners, red-cheeked provincials, and helpless little old ladies lash them into frenzied investigatio...
Dr. John Montgomery: He had two cavities that needed filling. He put up a fight, but I took care of it. Christine Collins: And? Dr. John Montgomery: Your son's upper front teeth were separated by a small tissue, a diastema. It made them sit about an ...
John Merrick: [after seeing pictures of Dr. Treves' family] Would you care to see my mother? Dr. Frederick Treves: [surprised] Your mother? Yes please. [John pulls out a small portrait] Mrs. Treves: Oh but she's... Mr. Merrick, she's beautiful! John ...
Hana: The war's over - you told me yourself. How can it be desertion? Oliver: It's not over everywhere. I didn't mean literally. Hana: [looking at Almasy] When he dies I'll catch up. Oliver: [looking over the small cache of provisions] It's not safe ...
Stoick: [as Hiccup tries to sneak past] Hiccup. Hiccup: Dad! Uh, I have to talk to you, Dad. Stoick: I need to speak with you too, son. [They both take deep breaths, then both speak at once] Stoick: I think it's time you learned to fight dragons. Hic...
[the Shape is lurking by a bush on the sidewalk] Laurie: Annie, look! Annie Brackett: Look where? I don't see anything. Laurie: That guy who passed us in the car before, the one you yelled at! Annie Brackett: Subtle, isn't he? [marches over to the bu...
[Brody sees his son sitting in a small skiff, and yells for him to get out of it] Ellen Brody: Martin, it's his birthday tomorrow! Brody: I don't want him out on the water! Ellen Brody: He is not out on the water, he is in a boat! He's not going to g...
[At Q's lab, Q and Tanner try to create a false trail for Silva to follow] Q: It's a fine line. If the breadcrumb's too small, then he might miss it. Too big, and Silva will smell a rat. Tanner: Yes, but you'd think even Silva will be able to spot th...
Willy Wonka: Well, fortunately, small boys are extremely springy and elastic. So I think we'll put him in my special taffy-pulling machine. That should do the trick. [to an Oompa Loompa] Willy Wonka: To the taffy-pulling room. You'll find the boy in ...
One thing I do know about intimacy is that there are certain natural laws which govern the sexual experience of two people, and that these laws cannot be budged any more than gravity can be negotiated with. To feel physically comfortable with someone...
But they can rule by fraud, and by fraud eventually acquire access to the tools they need to finish the job of killing off the Constitution.' 'What sort of tools?' 'More stringent security measures. Universal electronic surveillance. No-knock laws. S...
On present-day Earth we have the most Christ-like nation in human history, a civilization built on loving kindness and demilitarization. They are being wiped off the face of their homeland. Well, at least the Chinese government isn’t blaming Christ...
The "old school" of wastewater treatment, still embraced by most government regulators and many academics, considers water to be a vehicle for the routine transfer of waste from on place to another. It also considers the accompanying organic material...
...Wrapped in the overcoat, he dropped on the seat and faced the eternal verities of sky and sea. No land was intruding. It was the bowl of the sky closing down; the smooth wash of the sea rolling in; and away in the distance a faint red glow marked ...