“What reader or dreamer doesn’t imagine the romantic life of a writer, who lingers between the desk and the fridge in the morning and in the evening attends cocktail parties thrown by nouveaux riches and the society ladies who hardly ever have the time to read?”

“All libraries must submit to a certain order, I answered. Indeed, agreed the professor, or all will be lost. The fall of nations and empires begins with the fall of libraries.”

“Communists and Muslims are not the enemies to fear in this land, Fly. It is the food consumption that will eventually blow up in everyone’s faces.”

“This lesser world is all about reproduction, as you might well know. Those who cease to duplicate simply die.”

“So long, I replied, may we all have one good flight before we rest among flowers and the orbits of hungry worms.”

“The moon should be colonised, I thought. Mankind should seek a happier beginning, and humans should be free to stroll hand in hand regardless of their weight and orientation.”

“There are two ways to taste things in life: the sweet way and the bitter way.”

“Nothing to be proud of, nothing to regret.”

“In cities it is useless to look at the stars or to describe them, worship them, or seek direction from them. When lost, one should follow the tracks of the camels.”

“Violence and resistance are the only answer. Empire has to feel pain or it will never stop devouring you. It is only when a gun is put in a person’s face that anything changes. All empires are hungry cannibals...”

“Never underestimate a clown with a book.”