Ray Ellis

“Listen, are we helpless? Are we doomed to do it again and again and again? Have we no choice but to play the Phoenix in an unending sequence of rise and fall? Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Carthage, Rome, the Empires of Charlemagne and the Turk: Ground to dust and plowed with salt. Spain, France, Britain, America—burned into the oblivion of the centuries. And again and again and again. Are we doomed to it, Lord, chained to the pendulum of our own mad clockwork, helpless to halt its swing? This time, it will swing us clean to oblivion.”
― Walter M. Miller Jr., A Canticle for Leibowitz

“Get down,' Bunty says grimly. 'Mummy's thinking.' (Although what Mummy's actually doing is wondering what it would be like if her entire family was wiped out and she could start again.)”
― Kate Atkinson, Behind the Scenes at the Museum

“Slattern! What a wonderful new word. 'Slattern,' I murmur appreciatively to Patricia.
'Yes, slattern,' Bunty says firmly. 'That's what she is.'
'Not a slut like you then?' Patricia says very quietly. Loud enough to be heard, but too quiet to be believed.”
― Kate Atkinson, Behind the Scenes at the Museum

“A truly English protest march would see us all chanting: 'What do we want? GRADUAL CHANGE! When do we want it? IN DUE COURSE!”
― Kate Fox, Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour