Simon Gibson

“Sundays, like a stanza break
Or shower's end of all applause,
For some old unexplaining sake
The optimistic tread these shores,
As lonely as the dead awake
Or God among the dinosaurs.”
― Glyn Maxwell, The Boys at Twilight: Poems, 1990-1995

“Language is intrinsically political, as how we talk about something conditions how we think about it,”
― Mark Galeotti, A Short History of Russia: How the World's Largest Country Invented Itself, from the Pagans to Putin

“The accelerating pace of zoonotic transmission of novel viruses into humans is attributable to anthropogenic epidemiologic factors. Only behavior modification or medical management of this future health burden will minimize the risks of future zoonoses for human populations.”
― Michael G Cordingley, Viruses: Agents of Evolutionary Invention

“I'm sorry," he says, his fingers closing around mine. "You shouldn't be looking at such..."

"Such what?" I ask, a question that is rapidly chased by another. "And why not?"

He glances down at the pictures, then tears his gaze away, dragging it back to my face. "Well, because it's improper, for one thing."

How cruel it would be of me to ask for a second thing, if only to watch him stumble and stammer while his gaze struggles not to dip down to those portraits a second time. "It may have escaped your notice at some point during our acquaintance, but I am a woman. And as shocking as it may be for you to believe, I have seen myself naked on more than one occasion, so you'll pardon me if I am not offended by anything these ladies have to offer.”
― Quenby Olson, The Half Killed