While people will submit to suffering which may hit anyone, they will not so easily submit to suffering which is the result of the decision of authority. It may be bad to be just a cog in an impersonal machine; but it is infinitely worse if we can no...
Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts. Think of your laptop as a machine like t...
Congratulations on the new library, because it isn't just a library. It is a space ship that will take you to the farthest reaches of the Universe, a time machine that will take you to the far past and the far future, a teacher that knows more than a...
Yes, of course, there's something fishy about describing people's feelings. You try hard to be accurate, but as soon as you start to define such and such a feeling, language lets you down. It's really a machine for making falsehoods. When we really s...
Your hands are not made to type out memos. Or put paper through fax machines. Or hold a phone up while you talk to people you dislike. One hundred years from now, your hands will rot like dust in your grave. You have to make wonderful use of those ha...
Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation...tooting, howling, screeching,...
Paper is no longer a big part of my day. I get 90% of my news online, and when I go to a meeting and want to jot things down, I bring my Tablet PC. It's fully synchronized with my office machine, so I have all the files I need. It also has a note-tak...
Stories are like DNA, they shape the culture that they’re a part of. A society is not a society without its own unique stories. But we allow machines to make our stories, nowadays, or at least to tell them. We allow things to shape our understandin...
He was free, free in every way, free to behave like a fool or a machine, free to accept, free to refuse, free to equivocate; to marry, to give up the game, to drag this death weight about with him for years to come. He could do what he liked, no one ...
Even though there is clearly a strong cultural no-no machine telling you not to summon them on what is functionally penalty of death, the same voice also tells you precisely how to do it, and why you would. That’s more or less my experience of cult...
The modern recording studio, with its well-trained engineers, 24-track machines and shiny new recording consoles, encourages the artist to get involved with sound. And there have always been artists who could make the equipment serve their needs in a...
Mac MacGuff: Whats that thing? Vanessa Loring: It's a Pilates machine. Mac MacGuff: What do you make with it? Vanessa Loring: Oh you don't make anything with it, its for exercise. Mac MacGuff: Oh. My wife ordered one of those Tony Little Gazelles off...
[the Ghetto is being "cleared out", with machine gun fire all around, two SS Guards stop and listen to a fellow Guard playing the piano] First S.S. Guard: Was ist das? Ist das Bach? Second S.S. Guard: Nein. First S.S. Guard: Ist das Bach? Second S.S....
RoboCop: [seeing Emil drawing his machine gun on him and draws his own gun] Drop it! [Emil walks backwards] RoboCop: Dead or alive, you're coming with me. [Emil realizes who RoboCop really is, for he had heard that statement earlier] Emil: I know you...
Dr. Strangelove: Of course, the whole point of a Doomsday Machine is lost, if you *keep* it a *secret*! Why didn't you tell the world, EH? Ambassador de Sadesky: It was to be announced at the Party Congress on Monday. As you know, the Premier loves s...
Ramon Miguel 'Mike' Vargas: Susie, one of the longest borders on earth is right here between your country and mine. An open border. Fourteen hundred miles without a single machine gun in place. Yeah, I suppose that all sounds very corny to you. Susan...
Big Figure: He's dead, Rorschach. While everyone's distracted, we thought we'd bring you a little housewarming gift. Something from the machine shop. Fat Thug: Hey, Boss, you notice? None of that "small world, tall order" crap, cause he knows once we...
Sgt. Lyman: Sir, the Cerebro device has been completed according to your specifications. William Stryker: Good. [Lyman looks at the monitor showing the room where the mutant children are being held prisoner] Sgt. Lyman: If I may ask, sir, why are we ...
Bunny Lebowski: I'll suck your cock for a thousand dollars. Brandt: Ah hahahahaha! Wonderful woman. We're all, we're all very fond of her. Very free-spirited. Bunny Lebowski: Brandt can't watch, though, or he has to pay a hundred. Brandt: Ah haha. Th...
The Dude: Also, my rug was stolen. Younger Cop: The rug was in the car? The Dude: No. It was here. Younger Cop: [eager] Oh, separate incidents. Maude Lebowski: [on answering machine] Jeffrey, this is Maude Lebowski. I need to see you. I'm the one who...
Rachael: Do you like our owl? Deckard: It's artificial? Rachael: Of course it is. Deckard: Must be expensive. Rachael: Very. Rachael: I'm Rachael. Deckard: Deckard. Rachael: It seems you feel our work is not a benefit to the public. Deckard: Replican...
