“The bear cage is empty?”

“The only good cage is an empty cage.”

“The cage is empty; the mind has flown.”

“The soul aids the body, and at certain moments, raises it. It is the only bird which bears up its own cage.”

“I prefer empty cages, Sabina, until I find a unique bird I once saw in my dreams.”

“We wanted to blast the world free of history.... picture yourself planting radishes and seed potatoes on the fifteenth green of a forgotten golf course. You'll hunt elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center, and dig clams next to the skeleton of the Space Needle leaning at a forty-five degree angle. We'll paint the skyscrapers with huge totem faces and goblin tikis, and every evening what's left of mankind will retreat to empty zoos and lock itself in cages as protection against the bears and big cats and wolves that pace and watch us from outside the cage bars at night.”