“Ah, art! Ah, life! The pendulum swinging back and forth, from complex to simple, again to complex. From romantic to realistic, back to romantic. ”

“From the outer edge of his life, looking back, there was only one remorse, and that was only that he wished to go on living.”

“Our civilization is flinging itself to pieces. Stand back from the centrifuge.”

“And Quell asked, 'Ah, but what is nature?'Socrates answered, sparks showering, 'God surprising himself with odd miracles of flesh.”

“Let the war turn off the families. Our civilization is flinging itself to pieces. Stand back from the centrifuge.”

“The Martians were there—in the canal—reflected in the water.... The Martians stared back up at them for a long, long silent time from the rippling water....”

“They pointed at each other, with starlight burning in their limbs like daggers and icicles and fireflies, and then fell to judging their limbs again, each finding himself intact, hot, excited, stunned, awed, and the other, ah yes, that other over there, unreal, a ghostly prism flashing the accumulated light of distant worlds….…Now Tomas laughed. “You’re blind!”“I see very well. You are the one who does not see.”