Neal Stephenson: Use (page 2)

“That, as far as she could tell, was the purpose of the religion she had been brought up in: It made people feel better when really horrible things happened, and it offered a repertoire of ceremonies that were used to add a touch of class to such goings-on as shacking up with someone and throwing dirt on a corpse.”

Neal Stephenson book Reamde

Day 4
Reamde (2011), Part I: Nine Dragons

People , Religion , Feeling

““I have done research on it,” Aïda said. “Some say that bipolarity is a useful adaptation. When things are bad, you become depressed, retreat, conserve energy. When things are good, you spring into action with great energy.”
“And your point is …”
“Will you treat this condition in my offspring against my will?”

Neal Stephenson book Seveneves

What if I want to have a lot of little bipolar kids?”
"Cleft"
Seveneves (2015), Part Two

Spring

“It was difficult to sustain the illusion that education was of value for kids who would not live long enough to use it. They’d never take the standardized tests that they were prepping for. … Free from the constraints of racking up high test scores or getting into colleges, students could learn for learning’s sake—which was how it ought to be. The tick-tock curriculum had dissolved and been replaced by activities improvised from day to day by teachers and parents: hiking in the mountains, doing art projects about the Cloud Ark, talking with psychologists about death, reading favorite books. In one sense Amelia and her colleagues had never been more needed, never had such an opportunity to show their quality.”

Neal Stephenson book Seveneves

"The Casting of Lots"
Seveneves (2015), Part One

Death , Books , Education , Art

“It might interest you to know that our state is tired of being used as a chemical toilet so that people in Utah can have plastic lawn furniture.”

Neal Stephenson book Zodiac

"I can't believe an assistant attorney general came right out and said that."
"Well, I wouldn't say it in public."
"Cohen," the assistant attorney general of an unnamed East Coast state meeting covertly with Sangamon Taylor near the Jersey Shore. Chapter 11
Zodiac (1988)

People

“I have been clinically depressed for most of my life. I once used drugs to fix it. Then I stopped. I stopped because I decided they were making me stupid, and I’d rather be miserable than stupid. I am what I am.”

Neal Stephenson book Seveneves

“Cleft” (pp. 560-561)
Seveneves (2015), Part Two

Stupidity , Life

“You could get use to anything. You got used to it and then time raced by, and before you knew it, time was up.”

Neal Stephenson book Seveneves

“Consolidation: Day 260” (p. 173)
Seveneves (2015), Part One

Time