Nella

“These views were voiced by the school of 'optessimists', i.e. philosophers who derived optimism for the future from a pessimistic appraisal of the present." The 21st Voyage, The Star Diaries”
― Stanisław Lem

“What was civilization ever, really, but the attempt by man to talk himself into being good? Only good, mind you. The rest had to be shoved somewhere out of sight, under the rug. Which History indeed did, at times politely, at times police-ly, and yet something was always sticking out, breaking loose, overthrowing.”
― Stanisław Lem, The Futurological Congress: From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy

“To light a candle is to cast a shadow...”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea

“And so being young and dipped in folly I fell in love with melancholy.”
― Edgar Allan Poe