“I think that it can be assumed that no adults are ever really 'shocked' - that being shocked is always a pose.”

“Embryos think with each stage of their development that they have now reached the only condition that really suits them. This, they say, must certainly be their last, inasmuch as its close will be so great a shock that nothing can survive it. Every change is a shock; every shock is a pro tanto death. What we call death is only a shock great enough to destroy our power to recognize a past and a present as resembling one another. ”

“Some say "The end is near," as if that is shocking news. The truth is, the end is always near. What is actually shocking is that we, ourselves, can help to choose which end.”

“I suppose the shock of recognition is one of the nastiest shocks of all.”

“The physical shock took away the pain of being.”

“I mean, electric shock? Isn’t that a bit... electric shock-y?”