“Animals in zoos (we are told) believe that their bars protect them. We Americans have forged our own bars, built our own cage, and live in it more or less content as long as someone feeds us.”

—  Gene Wolfe

The Best of Gene Wolfe (2009), afterword to "Petting Zoo", p. 432
Nonfiction

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Gene Wolfe 102
American science fiction and fantasy writer 1931–2019

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Young I was witless in the world's affairs,
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[[File:Chen Hongshou Portrait von Tao-Qian. JPG|thumb|Long I lived checked by the bars of a cage;
Now I have turned again to Nature and Freedom. ]] My only love was for the hills and mountains.
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