Post Sarcity Quotes

“The point is," Ziller said, "that having carefully constructed their paradise from first principles to remove all credible motives for conflict amongst themselves and all natural threats—" He paused and glanced sourly at the sunlight flaring off the gilt border of his seat. "—Well, almost all natural threats, these people then find their lives are so hollow they have to recreate false versions of just the sort of terrors untold generations of their ancestors spent their existences attempting to conquer."

"I think that is a little like criticizing somebody for owning both an umbrella and a shower," Kabe said. "It is the choice that is important." [...] "These people control their terrors. They can choose to sample them, repeat them or avoid them. That is not the same as living beneath a volcano when you've just invented the wheel, or wondering whether your levee will break and drown your entire village. Again, this applies to all societies which have matured beyond the age of barbarism. There is no great mystery here."

[...]

"I think it is only natural, a sign that one has succeeded as a species, that what used to have to be suffered as a necessity becomes enjoyed as sport. Even fear can be recreational.”
― Iain M. Banks, Look to Windward