“Better to choose a path you’re unsure of than be forced onto a path you don’t want.” “Sounds profound. Something your father said?” Natalya shook her head. “Fortune cookie I got in a great little oriental restaurant over in Dunsany Roads.”
...more
“As it is articulated in this book, German foreign policy makers regarded armament exports as one of the principal elements of a strategy for successful economic–political penetration of the countries where German strategic interests were at stake. For this purpose, the German military mission in general and Goltz Pasha in particular were touchstones of Bismarck’s well-planned expansionist strategy towards the Ottoman Empire.”
― Arming the Sultan: German Arms Trade and Personal Diplomacy in the Ottoman Empire
― Arming the Sultan: German Arms Trade and Personal Diplomacy in the Ottoman Empire
“The Androms proved to be too much of a pushover. The battle with them was too short, and too unfulfilling. A hard-won victory is the most satisfying kind. So the ASI is seeking an eternal war between it—a computer-based superintelligence—and a bio-based one. An epic struggle between a computer god, and the god-like species that humanity can become. Such a war will engage both. Give both purpose. Such a war will make existence interesting and challenging. And will prove to be critical for the well-being and continued growth of both.”
― Seeker
― Seeker
“Get this straight, kids,” the prophet said. “If you think you're anything but dirt, then you're in for a surprise. Ignore everything your principal said. It doesn't matter what you do. You're still going to die. You're all sinners and scum of the earth. You've spent the last eighteen years of your life fucking, cussing, and spiting at the Lord. Well, kids, when the end comes, you're going to be wishing your mother aborted you with a coat hanger and ended your miserable existence before it ever began.”
― The Crooked God Machine
― The Crooked God Machine
“I mean, your species is responsible for Windows Vista.”
― Columbus Day
― Columbus Day
“He wrapped duct tape and plastic wrap around his bald head so girls couldn't read his mind, so he said. He raised chickens to torture and slaughter because his daddy said every good boy had a little sociopath in him. Smarts talked with a lisp and walked with a limp, though Ezekiel told me had it on good authority Smarts was faking both. For what reason, though, Ezekiel couldn't say.”
― The Crooked God Machine
― The Crooked God Machine
Michael’s 2025 Year in Books
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