Mark Riebling (1963) American writer
Jesus, Jews and the Shoah: A Moral Reckoning by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (2003)
“Of course, the trouble with following occult texts blindly is that there is no guarantee that the thing the ritual summons is what it says on the label.”
“But they’re Christians. If you want to get them to raise something from the dungeon dimensions, of course you tell them it’s Jesus Christ. I mean, who else would they enthusiastically dive into necromantic demonology on behalf of?”
Source: The Laundry Files, The Apocalypse Codex (2012), Chapter 11, “The Apocalypse Codex” (p. 209)
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Charles Stross211
British science fiction writer and blogger 1964Related quotes
“Some things, this ritual says, must be permanent.”
James Burke (science historian) (1936) British broadcaster, science historian, author, and television producer
The Day the Universe Changed (1985), 1 - The Way We Are
Context: The oldest answers to the most basic questions about how to operate are common to virtually every culture on the planet, because at the simplest level, every culture needs to keep order -- especially this kind: (James Burke displays a wedding ring.) This is one of those things in life we protect most against being changed when knowledge changes us. We protect it by turning it into a ritual. When we get married, or buried, get christened, or anything else too important to play by ear, the event is turned into a kind of play where everybody gets a role they act out. It's a kind of public agreement to stick to the general rules about whatever it is. The people doing it are effectively saying, "No matter what else may change, we won't rock the boat! We're not maverick. You can trust us." Expressions of approval follow. Most of these ritual ways of answering a social need that we got from the past look like it. They include something from an ancient rite -- in this case, the old symbol of fertility: the ring. And then, it's all done in the presence of a supernatural being: a God. So, the agreement is also made under what was once a real threat of heavenly retribution if you broke your promise later on. Some things, this ritual says, must be permanent.
“I am not apt to follow blindly the lead of other men”
Charles Darwin (1809–1882) British naturalist, author of "On the origin of species, by means of natural selection"
“You must know yourself first instead of following blindly like sheep.”
Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author
D.J. MacHale book The Merchant of Death
Variant: Whenever you look back and say "if" you know you're in trouble. There is no such thing as "if". The only thing that matters is what really happened.
Source: The Merchant of Death
Jeff VanderMeer book City of Saints and Madmen
"The Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of the City of Ambergris", Ch. 4, p. 122
City of Saints and Madmen (2001–2004)
Terry Pratchett book Diggers
The Nome Trilogy (1989 - 1990)
Variant: The problem with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and putting things in it.
Source: Diggers (1990)
Jason Fried software entrepreneur
Source: Rework