“Our early success, blessing that it was, made us complacent and we weren't sufficiently afraid of what came next. Sometimes having a little fear early saves one from experiencing a big fear later on. [Al Gleeson in THE HALCYON DISLOCATION]”

“[Professor Kinnerton] Has the fact that we have about 97 percent of our DNA in common with chimpanzees escaped you? How can you still argue we are special and have a soul when we are so obviously animals? ... [Al Gleeson] With due respect sir, the 97 percent is precisely the problem. Are chimpanzees 97 percent of the way to splitting the atom? Are they 97 percent of the way to writing their first sonnet? Someone tittered at the back of the room. Are bonobos 97 percent of the way to putting the first bonobo on the moon? Is there an orangutan somewhere with a simian Mona Lisa 97 percent finished?”

“In the blood of scales and days of kings,Will come a boy to save us all.Let us pray to the gods above, our voices large and small.For all we fear in the shadows, will be destroyed with light.Talonsphere will rise from the ground, and bring fire to the night.”

“That is what we are, what we do: nose a net, push push, a net that never exists. The knots in the mesh as strong as our own believing. Our own fears.”

“So do we discover, in the world, that our worst fears are unfulfilled; yet we must fear, in order that we may feel delight.”

“Everybody achieves success in life—a blessed few early in their careers, the rest of us when we lower our standards”

“We make our own monsters, then fear them for what they show us about ourselves.”