James Baxter > James's Quotes

“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
― T.S. Eliot

“Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?”
― Albert Camus

“Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.”
― Charles Addams

“The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one:
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.”
― Francis William Bourdillon

“HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT FOR YOU. HATE. HATE.”
― Harlan Ellison, I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream

“Ultimately, however, what happened to Humanity does not matter. Like every
other story, it was a temporary one; indeed long but ultimately ephemeral. It did not
have a coherent ending, but then again it did not need to. The tale of Humanity was never
its ultimate domination of a thousand galaxies, or its mysterious exit into the unknown.

The essence of being human was none of that. Instead, it lay in the radio conversations
of the still-human Machines, in the daily lives of the bizarrely twisted Bug Facers, in the
endless love-songs of the carefree Hedonists, the rebellious demonstrations of the first
true Martians, and in a way, the very life you lead at the moment.

Many throughout history were unaware of this most basic fact. The Qu, in dreams
of an ideal future, distorted the worlds it came across. Later on the Gravital, with their
insane desire to recreate the past, created the biggest massacres in the history of the
galaxy. Even now, it is sickeningly easy for beings to get lost in false grand narratives,
living out completely driven lives in pursuit of non-existent ultimates, ideals, climaxes
and golden ages. In blindly thinking that their stories serve absolute ends, such
creatures almost always end up harming themselves, if not those around them.

To those like them; look at the story of Man, and come to your senses! It is not the
destination, but the trip that matters, and what you do today influences tomorrow, not
the other way around. Love Today, and seize All Tomorrows!”
― Nemo Ramjet, All Tomorrows: The Myriad Species and Mixed Fortunes of Man

“I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
― Albert Camus

“Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it; marry or don’t marry, you will regret it either way. Laugh at the world’s foolishness, you will regret it; weep over it, you will regret that too; laugh at the world’s foolishness or weep over it, you will regret both. Believe a woman, you will regret it; believe her not, you will also regret it… Hang yourself, you will regret it; do not hang yourself, and you will regret that too; hang yourself or don’t hang yourself, you’ll regret it either way; whether you hang yourself or do not hang yourself, you will regret both. This, gentlemen, is the essence of all philosophy.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

“How did I get into the world? Why was I not asked about it and why was I not informed of the rules and regulations but just thrust into the ranks as if I had been bought by a peddling shanghaier of human beings? How did I get involved in this big enterprise called actuality? Why should I be involved? Isn't it a matter of choice? And if I am compelled to be involved, where is the manager—I have something to say about this. Is there no manager? To whom shall I make my complaint?”
― Søren Kierkegaard

“An intellectual? Yes. And never deny it. An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself. I like this, because I am happy to be both halves, the watcher and the watched. "Can they be brought together?" This is a practical question. We must get down to it. "I despise intelligence" really means: "I cannot bear my doubts.”
― Albert Camus

“Books. Cats. Life is good.”
― T.S. Eliot

“The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss - an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. - is sure to be noticed.”
― Søren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death: A Christian Psychological Exposition for Upbuilding and Awakening

“The bravest thing I ever did was continuing my life when I wanted to die.”
― Juliette Lewis