Natural Quotes - page 97
That a thing made by hand, the work and thought of a single craftsman, can endure much longer than its maker, through centuries in fact, can survive natural catastrophe, neglect, and even mistreatment, has always filled me with wonder. Sometimes in museums, looking at a humble piece of pottery from ancient Persia or Pompeii, or a finely wrought page from a medieval illuminated manuscript toiled over by a nameless monk, or a primitive tool with a carved handle, I am moved to tears. The unknown life of the maker is evanescent in its brevity, but the work of his or her hands and heart remains.
Susan Vreeland
And truly, I to hope that I have made this thing somewise clear unto you; for, indeed, it doth be something hard to set out; for every Age hath the subtleties peculiar to that Age; and these to be hard to the understanding of other Ages, but yet to seem plain and utter natural, even without thought, unto the Peoples of the Age.
William Hope Hodgson
One of the most effective forms of industrial or military sabotage limits itself to damage that can never be thoroughly proven-or even proven at all-to be anything deliberate. It is like an invisible political movement; perhaps it isn't there at all. If a bomb is wired to a car's ignition, then obviously there is an enemy; if public building or a political headquarters is blown up, then there is a political enemy. But if an accident, or a series of accidents, occurs, if equipment merely fails to function, if it appears faulty, especially in a slow fashion, over a period of natural time, with numerous small failures and misfirings-then the victim, whether a person or a party or a country, can never marshal itself to defend itself.
Philip K. Dick
Why?” Hamilton lashed out suddenly and loudly. "Why the hell did God answer that prayer? Why not some of the others? Why not Bill Laws's?”
"God approved of your prayer,” Silky said. "After all, it's up to Him; He has to decide how He feels about it.”
"That's terrible.”
Silky shrugged. "Maybe so.”
"How can you live with that? You never know what's going to happen-there's no order, no logic.” It infuriated him that she did not object, that it seemed natural to her. "We're helpless; we have to depend on whim. It keeps us from being people-we're like animals waiting to be fed. Rewarded or punished.
Philip K. Dick
