Don

“The girl who wore only a pair of shorts said, “It was the university that called down the Darkness on us.” “And the Stars,” said the man who wore just a shirt. “They brought the Stars.” “And this one might bring them back,” said the woman who had spoken before. “Get him out of here! Get him out of here!” Sheerin stared incredulously. He told himself that he should have been able to predict this. It was an all too likely development: pathological suspicion of all scientists, all educated people, an unreasoning phobia that must be raging now like a virus among the survivors of the night of terror.”
― Isaac Asimov, Nightfall

“It is true that we do not feel the movement of the earth, but by admitting its immobility we arrive at absurdity, while by admitting its motion (which we do not feel) we arrive at laws,” so also in history the new view says: “It is true that we are not conscious of our dependence, but by admitting our free will we arrive at absurdity, while by admitting our dependence on the external world, on time, and on cause, we arrive at laws.”
― James S.A. Corey, Babylon's Ashes

“ONE OF the reasons I never really believed in a Hell is that even the hardest things, with some repetition, can become routine. Granted, eternity’s a long time and too much repetition can drive you crazy, but it’s all a cycle—and is it really punishment if you at least have regular intervals of not giving a shit? Once Sisyphus knows that rock’s gonna roll, it’s really gotta be more tedious than tormenting. His mind probably gets to wander—shit, he might even get to enjoy it sometimes and then where’s your punishment?”
― Mac Rogers, Steal the Stars

“It had been a pretty good world, he thought. Not perfect, far from it, but good enough. Most people had been reasonably happy, most were prosperous, there was progress being made on all fronts—toward deeper scientific understanding, toward greater economic expansion, toward stronger global cooperation. The concept of war had come to seem quaintly medieval and the age-old religious bigotries were mostly obsolete, or so it had seemed to him. And now it was all gone, in one short span of hours, in a single burst of horrifying Darkness.”
― Isaac Asimov, Nightfall