“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”

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

“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.”

“Once upon a time I was such a good liar; I could talk the fish right into my mouths.”

“Here we begin frank speculation. And since we are speculating, we'll use those powerful pseudo-laws, the Principles of Mediocrity and Minimal Assumption.”