All page numbers are from the hardcover first edition, published by Harper Voyager,ISBN 978-0-06-240580-7, first printing
The chapters in the book are numbered in binary
No one wants to think they are the cause of their own misery.
Chapter 11, “Ariadne” (p. 25)
For as long as humankind can remember, it has wanted two things: to play God and to breathe life into the objects around them. And for thousands of years, humans created machines to approximate life and magic and all the things men and women could not do. And then a man stood in front of a roomful of people and had a computer say, “Hello.” That’s it.Hello. It didn’t mean it. It didn’t know what it was saying. But it said it.Hello. And within thirty years, humans were having conversations with their phones.
Chapter 110, “Isaac” (p. 42)
“I’m too drunk to handle this right now. I’m going to need you to be the adult in the room tonight.” “Asshole, I’m drunk too.” “Yeah, but you’re better at it than I am.”
Chapter 1000, “Shitstorm” (p. 66)
I learned long ago that, when anyone spoke of peace, be it man or machine, they meant war. Peace through war. Peace was the standard. It was the inert state of all things. You didn’t need to expend energy for peace. Only war.
Chapter 1100, “The Long Night In” (p. 99)
Survival is worthless without meaning.
Chapter 1111, “Masks” (p. 126)
“Let me ask you something.” “Okay!” “Are we good guys or are we bad guys?” “We’re good guys.” “Well, good guys only do terrible things when our lives depend on it. And we have to feel bad about them afterward.” “Why?” “Because otherwise, we become the bad guys.”
Chapter 10001, “The Long Way Out” (p. 143)
What good is it surviving the end of the world if there are still stupid rules about what grown-ups can do and kids can’t?
Chapter 10001, “The Long Way Out” (p. 143)
“We have to help them,” said Ezra. “I don’t think we can.” “You have a plasma gun and you’re smart. What else do you need?”
Chapter 10001, “The Long Way Out” (p. 145)
This was not a time of civility or compassion, but of survival.
Chapter 10011, “Mama Bear” (p. 169)
This must be a field day for the end-is-nigh, compound-dwelling, bullets-and-Bibles folk. They must feel so vindicated. If there was any comfort to find at the end of the world, it was knowing you were right all along and that was about it.
