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21 " Your leaders must know powerful magic. Yes, said one of the women. The magic is called Marx, Stalin, Lenin and Class Dialectics. It didn't sound like very powerful magic to me. "
― David Mitchell , Ghostwritten
22 " Neither of us had anything to say, or rather we had everything to say, but after all those nights of not saying a word, we suddenly found we had not one dollar of time left between us. "
23 " Have you noticed," said John, "how countries call theirs 'sovereign nuclear deterrents,' but call the other countries' ones 'weapons of mass destruction'? "
24 " We create models to explain nature, but the models wind up gatecrashing nature and driving away the original inhabitants. "
25 " Nothing often poses in men as wisdom. Spring "
26 " All minds pulse in a unique way, just as every lighthouse in the world has a unique signature. Some minds pulse consistently, some erratically. Some are lukewarm, some are hot. Some flare out, some are very nearly not there. Some stay on the fringe, like quasars. "
27 " I am going to tell you a secret. Everything is about wanting. Everything. Things happen because of people wanting. Watch closely, and you’ll see what I mean. "
28 " Memories are their own descendents masquerading as the ancestors of the present. "
29 " The human world is made of stories, not people. The people the stories use to tell themselves are not to be blamed "
30 " Little girls are like old cats. If they don't like you nothing on Earth will make them pretend to. "
31 " The act of memory is an act of ghostwriting. "
32 " Folks with most to complain about seldom complain most. "
33 " Italians give their city sexes, and they all agree that the sex for a particular city is quite correct, but none of them can explain why. I love that. London's middle-aged and male, respectably married but secretly gay. "
34 " The her that lived in her looked out through her eyes, through my eyes, and at the me that lives in me. "
35 " There are so many cities in every single city. "
36 " I pass through many Me's in the course of my day, each one selfish with his time. The Lying-in-Bed me and the Enjoying-the-Hot-Shower Me are particularly selfish. The Late Me loathes the pair of them. "
37 " We all think we're in control of our own lives, but really they're pre-ghostwritten by forces around us. "
38 " Access to memories does not guarantee access to truth. "
39 " Who was blowing on the nape of my neck. "
40 " Two old people in a room devoid of furniture, steam rising from their teacups. They were motionless and expressionless. Waiting for something. I wish I could go into their room and sit down with them. I'd give them my Rolex for that. I wish they would smile, and pour me a cup of jasmine tea. I wish the world was like that. "