“He gave himself up to God and pressed the button.”
Source: Vorkosigan Saga, Falling Free (1988), Chapter 15 (p. 284)
“It was calling me, that button," he offered as his excuse. "I couldn't resist." -MULCH DIGGUMS ON A HIGHLY PRESS-ABLE BUTTON-”
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Eoin Colfer 185
Irish author of children's books 1965Related quotes
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Russell Brand
(1975) British comedian, actor, and author
6 Music Show
“Once I have refused to press that button because of Heinz, I can never press it.”
Source: Christopher and His Kind (1976), p. 335
Context: Suppose, Christopher now said to himself, I have a Nazi Army at my mercy. I can blow it up by pressing a button. The men in that Army are notorious for torturing and murdering civilians — all except for one of them, Heinz. Will I press the button? No — wait: Suppose I know that Heinz himself, out of cowardice or moral infection, has become as bad as they are and takes part in all their crimes? Will I press that button, even so? Christopher's answer, given without the slightest hesitation, was: Of course not.
That was a purely emotional reaction. But it helped Christopher think his way through to the next proposition. Suppose that Army goes into action and has just one casualty, Heinz himself. Will I press the button now and destroy his fellow criminals? No emotional reaction this time, but a clear answer, not to be evaded: Once I have refused to press that button because of Heinz, I can never press it. Because every man in that Army could be someone's Heinz and I have no right to play favorites. Thus Christopher was forced to recognize himself as a pacifist — although by an argument which he could only admit to with the greatest reluctance.
Source: The Machine Stops (1909), Ch. 1
Bhakti Tirtha Swami
(1950–2005) American Hindu writer
Source: Books, Spiritual Warrior, Volume I: Uncovering Spiritual Truths in Psychic Phenomena (Hari-Nama Press, 1996), Chapter 4: Fire and Brimstone, Horns and Tail, p. 65
Adolf Loos
(1870–1933) Austrian/Czech architect
Quoted in Berel Lang, Critical Inquiry, Vol. 4, No. 4 (Summer, 1978), pp. 715-739; see http://www.jstor.org/pss/1342952.
“God is not a cosmic bell-boy for whom we can press a button to get things done.”
Harry Emerson Fosdick
(1878–1969) American pastor
As I See Religion (1932)