"“Long ago it was learned that recruits — no matter how much training they had received — tended to forget everything they knew the first time they got punched in the face.” “The first time in their lives, you mean?” “Yeah. In peaceful, affluent societies where brawling is frowned on, this is a common problem.” “Not being punched in the face a lot is a problem?” “It is,” Lio said, “if you join the military and find yourself in hand-to-hand combat with someone who is actually trying to kill you.”"
Anathem is a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson, published in 2008. Major themes include the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the philosophical debate between Platonic realism and nominalism.
"I guess that people like to think they are not only living but propagating their way of life." "Thats right. People have a need to feel that they are part of some sustainable project. Something that will go on without them. It creates a feeling of stability. I believe that the need for that kind of stability is as basic and as desperate as some of the other, more obvious needs. But theres more than one way to get it."
Anathem"In a sense the clock was the entire Mynster, and its basement. When most people spoke of “the clock,” though, they meant its four dials, which were mounted high on the walls of the Præsidium—the Mynster’s central tower. The dials had been crafted in different ages, and each showed the time in a different way. But all four were connected to the same internal works. Each proclaimed the time; the day of the week; the month; the phase of the moon; the year; and (for those who knew how to read them) a lot of other cosmographical arcana."
Anathem"Describe worrying," he went on. "What!?" "Pretend Im someone who has never worried. Im mystified. It dont get it. Tell me how to worry." "Well...I guess the first step is to envision a sequence of events as they might play out in the future." "But I do that all the time. And yet I dont worry." "It is a sequence of events with a bad end." "So, youre worried that a pink dragon will fly over the concent and fart nerve gas on us?"
Anathem"“Do your neighbors burn one another alive?” was how Fraa Orolo began his conversation with Artisan Flec. “Do your shamans walk around on stilts?” Fraa Orolo asked, reading from a leaf that, judging by its brownness, was at least five centuries old. Then he looked up and added helpfully, “You might call them pastors or witch doctors.” “When a child gets sick, do you pray? Sacrifice to a painted stick? Or blame it on an old lady?” “Do you fancy you will see your dead dogs and cats in some sort of afterlife?”"
Anathem"Ylma is having you work it out in the most gruesome way possible...so that when she teaches you how its really done, itll seem that much easier....Like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer—it feels so good when you stop." This was the oldest joke in the world, but Barb hadnt heard it before, and he became so amused that he got physically excited and had to run back and forth across the kitchen several times to flame off energy. A few weeks ago, I would have been alarmed by this and would have tried to calm him down, but now I was used to it, and knew that if I approached him physically things would get much worse."
Anathem"“I almost feel a little let down that we are no longer breaking any rules.” “I know it must be an odd sensation for you, Fraa Erasmas, but you may get used to it after a while.” Barb didn’t get the joke. We had to explain it. He still didn’t get it."
Anathem