“Ravna became a librarian. "The ultimate dilettante!" Lynne had teased.”

“They had been at the center of something vast, but as usual with the affairs of the Powers, no one knew quite what had happened, nor the result of the strivings."A Fire Upon the Deep”

“Tycoon had a peddler's talent for using words to redefine reality.”

“[He] was an insect wandering in the cathedral his mind had become.”

“Most civilizations had more fiction than they did real history.”

“I never guessed I could cry so hard my face hurt.”

“The illusion of self-awareness. Happy automatons, running on trivial programs. I'll bet you never guess. From the inside, how can you?”