“Each sunrise is a precious jewel . . . for it may never be followed by its sunset.”
― Stranger in a Strange Land
― Stranger in a Strange Land
“I came by my decrepitude the hard way and I propose to enjoy it.”
― Stranger in a Strange Land
― Stranger in a Strange Land
“Have a drink,” he said. “Helps the future go down easier.”
― Echopraxia
― Echopraxia
“Bond closed his eyes and waited for the pain. He knew that the beginning of torture is the worst. There is a parabola of agony. A crescendo leading up to a peak and then the nerves are blunted and react progressively less until unconsciousness and death. All he could do was to pray for the peak, pray that his spirit would hold out so long and then accept the long free-wheel down to the final blackout. He had been told by colleagues who had survived torture by the Germans and the Japanese that towards the end there came a wonderful period of warmth and languor leading into a sort of sexual twilight where pain turned to pleasure and where hatred and fear of the torturers turned to a masochistic infatuation. It was the supreme test of will, he had learnt, to avoid showing this form of punch-drunkenness. Directly it was suspected they would either kill you at once and save themselves further useless effort, or let you recover sufficiently so that your nerves had crept back to the other side of the parabola. Then they would start again.”
― Casino Royale
― Casino Royale
“Why doesn’t Rosco just go to the Duke farm and arrest them when they’re not in the car?”
― The Martian
― The Martian
Ben’s 2025 Year in Books
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