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1 " Friendship, like other kinds of altruism, is vulnerable to cheaters, and we have a special name for them: fair-weather friends. These sham friends reap the benefits of associating with a valuable person and mimic signs of warmth in an effort to become valued themselves. But when a little rain falls, they are nowhere in sight. "
― Steven Pinker , How the Mind Works
2 " There's a need, too, for a special name in order to distinguish between this present world and the former world in which the police carried old-fashioned revolvers. ... 1Q84 - that's what I'll call this new world. Q is for 'question mark'. A world that bears a question. "
― Haruki Murakami , 1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3)
3 " You hunt and catch your own food. Am I correct?" " We are fierce predators of the night," DeChevue said proudly.Edwin tried again, " You hunt and gather your own food?" DeChevue still didn't get it. " Yes, M'sieur. We hunt, proudly." " You know, there is a special name for people who have to catch and kill everything they eat." " And that name has been the terror of the night from the dawn of man. Which name would you like? I can supply many. Nosferatu? Das Vampire?" " Peasant," Edwin said. " A person who has to provide all his own food is a peasant. How is it that you have lived all this time and are still ignorant of the division of labor?" DeChevue's mouth opened and closed several times. Each time he seemed on the verge of saying something, yet each time words failed him. "
4 " All writing is difficult. The most you can hope for is a day when it goes reasonably easily. Plumbers don’t get plumber’s block, and doctors don’t get doctor’s block; why should writers be the only profession that gives a special name to the difficulty of working, and then expects sympathy for it? "
― Philip Pullman