LenaRibka

“What people queued the entire weekend for became, six months later, as interesting as the socks on their feet. What happened to the cognition-enhancing helmets, the speaking fridges with a sense of smell? Gone the way of the mouse pad, the Filofax, the electric carving knife, the fondue set. The future kept arriving. Our bright new toys began to rust before we could get them home, and life went on much as before.”
― Ian McEwan, Machines Like Me

“Social?” I was tempted to say, “Very,” but gave him my social security number instead. “Date of birth?” “April 25, 1948.” “Place of birth?” “Chicago.” “Sex?” “You’re not my type.” He gave me another look and then put an M in that box. For good measure he put a C in the box for race. Caucasian.”
― Marshall Thornton, Fade Out

“When I was doing the research for Fall of Giants, I was shocked to realize that the First World War was a war that nobody wanted. No European leader on either side intended for it to happen. But the emperors and prime ministers, one by one, made decisions –logical, moderate decisions –each of which took us a small step closer to the most terrible conflict the world had ever known. I came to believe that it was all a tragic accident. And I wondered: Could that happen again?”
― Ken Follett, Never

“Life is a shit sandwich. Two pieces of shit, but between them the most amazing filling, delicious, a taste so wonderful it electrifies your entire body and barely seems real. A filling that inspires us to keep chewing through the worst, hoping to get to that amazing center again. Yes, some of us get a lot more yummy goodness than others, but none of us forgets the deliciousness long enough to stop trying to chomp through the shit.”
― Marshall Thornton, Fade Out