75 quotes
In order to make their story come true, the Takers have to put an end to creation itself—and they’re doing a damned good job of it.
Ishmael (1992)
Of course, there is no one right way for people to live, any more than there is one right way for birds to build nests or for spiders to spin webs.
My Ishmael (1997)
Mankind was not needed to bring order to the world.
Ishmael (1992)
They’re sure that there must be all sorts of things wrong with ever tribal way of life, and of course they’re correct—if you mean by “wrong” something you don’t like.
My Ishmael (1997)
It should be noted that what is crucial to our survival as a race is not the redistribution of power and wealth within the prison but rather the destruction of the prison itself.
Ishmael (1992)
It can’t possibly be said too often that there is no one right way for people to live; that’s only the delusion of the most murderous and destructive culture that history has ever produced.
The Story of B (1996)
The premise of the Taker story is the world belongs to man.... The premise of the Leaver story is man belongs to the world.
Ishmael (1992)
So, this is the Taker vision: The world was made for Man, and Man was made to conquer and rule it.
The Story of B (1996)
No story is devoid of meaning, if you know how to look for it. This is as true of nursery rhymes and daydreams as it is of novels and epic poems.
My Ishmael (1997)
The world must live, the world must live! We are only one species among billions. The gods don’t love us more than they love spiders or bears or whales or water lilies.
The Story of B (1996)
I told him these numbers were hard to believe.
“Do the arithmetic yourself sometime, then you won’t have to believe it, you’ll know it.
My Ishmael (1997)
I closed my eyes and found the interior rooms of my head quite thoroughly deserted.
The Story of B (1996)
Adam wasn’t the progenitor of our race, he was the progenitor of our culture.
Ishmael (1992)
If the world is saved, it will not be saved by people with the old vision and new programs. If the world is saved, it will be saved by people with a new vision and no programs.
The Story of B (1996)
Totalitarian agriculture is based on the premise that all the food in the world belongs to us, and there is no limit whatever to what we may take for ourselves and deny to all others.
The Story of B (1996)
It’s pointless to argue with mythology.
Ishmael (1992)
I left, and because it seemed like a good time to start being a little less incredibly trusting, I didn’t turn my back on him till I was outside with the door shut between us.
The Story of B (1996)
Modern humans have been around for two hundred thousand years, but according to to our beliefs, God had not a word to say to any of them until we came along.
The Story of B (1996)
It means I’ve been changed, fundamentally and permanently. It means I cannot be put back to what I was.
That’s why I am B: I cannot be put back to what I was.
The Story of B (1996)
“I guess this is what you mean when you say that if the world is saved, it will be saved by people with changed minds. People with unchanged minds will say, ‘Let’s minimize the effects of pushing the button.’ People with changed minds will say, ‘Let’s throw the box away!’”
The Story of B (1996)