Home > Work > A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)
1 " Still. Something is missing. Something is off. So, how fucking spoiled am I, then? How fucking broken? What is wrong with me that I can have everything I could ever want and have ever asked for and still wake up in the morning feeling like every day is a slog? "
― , A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)
2 " You and I -- we're just atoms that arranged themselves the right way, and we can understand that about ourselves. Is that not amazing? "
3 " I threw myself into my work, I went to all the places that used to inspire me, I listened to music and looked at art, I exercised and had sex and got plenty of sleep and ate my vegetables, and still. Still. Something is missing. Something is off. So, how fucking spoiled am I, then? How fucking broken? What is wrong with me that I can have everything I could ever want and have ever asked for and still wake up in the morning feeling like every day is a slog? "
― Becky Chambers , A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)
4 " You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. "
5 " You’re an animal, Sibling Dex. You are not separate or other. You’re an animal. And animals have no purpose. Nothing has a purpose. The world simply is. If you want to do things that are meaningful to others, fine! Good! So do I! But if I wanted to crawl into a cave and watch stalagmites with Frostfrog for the remainder of my days, that would also be both fine and good. You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do. "
6 " We don’t have to fall into the same category to be of equal value. "
7 " Do you not find consciousness alone to be the most exhilarating thing? Here we are, in this incomprehensibly large universe, on this one tiny moon around this one incidental planet, and in all the time this entire scenario has existed, every component has been recycled over and over and over again into infinitely incredible configurations, and sometimes, those configurations are special enough to be able to see the world around them. You and I—we’re just atoms that arranged themselves the right way, and we can understand that about ourselves. Is that not amazing? "
8 " Mosscap considered. “Because I know that no matter what, I’m wonderful,” it said. "
9 " I think there’s something beautiful about being lucky enough to witness a thing on its way out. "
10 " Sometimes a person reaches a point in their life when it becomes absolutely essential to get the fuck out of the city "
11 " We’re all just trying to be comfortable, and well fed, and unafraid. "
12 " You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to just exist in this world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. "
13 " ....We're machines, and machines are objects. Objects are its.""I'd say you're more than just an object," Dex said.The robot looked a touch offended. "I would never call you just an animal, Sibling Dex." It turned its gaze to the road, head held high. "We don't have to fall into the same category to be of equal value. "
14 " Without constructs, you will unravel few mysteries. Without knowledge of the mysteries, your constructs will fail. These pursuits are what make us, but without comfort, you will lack the strength to sustain either. "
15 " Mosscap considered. “Because I know that no matter what, I’m wonderful,” it said. There was nothing arrogant about the statement, nothing flippant or brash. It was merely an acknowledgment, a simple truth shared. "
16 " If you understand that robots' lack of purpose - our refusal of your purpose - is the crowning mark of our intellectual maturity, why do you put so much energy in seeking the opposite? "
17 " If we want change, or good fortune, or solace, we have to create it for ourselves. "
18 " The wilderness was not known for letting the foolish return. "
19 " The paradox is that the ecosysytem as a whole needs its participants to ac with restraint in order to avoid collapse, but the participants themselves have no inbuilt mechanism to encourage such behavior. Other than fear? Other than fear, which is a feeling you want to avoid or stop at all costs "
20 " For anybody who could use a break. "
