Ivan

“unconditional love asks nothing, not even that it be returned.”
― Ted Chiang, Stories of Your Life and Others

“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.”
― Voltaire

“Edgar Allan Poe had used the phrase “the imp of the perverse” to describe the temptation to do the wrong thing simply because you could, and for many people the imp had become more persuasive.”
― Ted Chiang, Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom

“My message to you is this: Pretend that you have free will. It’s essential that you behave as if your decisions matter, even though you know they don’t. The reality isn’t important; what’s important is your belief, and believing the lie is the only way to avoid a waking coma. Civilization now depends on self-deception. Perhaps it always has.

(story: What's Expected of Us)”
― Ted Chiang, What's Expected of Us