Quotes from book
Altered Carbon

Richard K. Morgan

Altered Carbon is a 2002 cyberpunk novel by British writer Richard K. Morgan. Set in a future in which interstellar travel is facilitated by transferring consciousnesses between bodies , it follows the attempt of Takeshi Kovacs, a former U.N. elite soldier turned private investigator, to investigate a rich man's death. It is followed by the sequels Broken Angels and Woken Furies.

“I’m stacked, backed up and I’m fifth dan
And I’m not afraid of the Patchwork Man”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 23 (p. 295)

“Kristin, nothing ever does change.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

I jerked a thumb back at the crowd outside. “You’ll always have morons like that, swallowing belief patterns whole so they don’t have to think for themselves. You’ll always have people like Kawahara and the Bancrofts to push their buttons and cash in on the program. People like you to make sure the game runs smoothly and the rules don’t get broken too often. And when the Meths want to break the rules themselves, they’ll send people like Trepp and me to do it. That’s the truth, Kristin. It’s been the truth since I was born a hundred and fifty years ago, and from what I read in the history books, it’s never been any different. Better get used to it.”
Epilogue (p. 524)
Altered Carbon (2002)

“The human eye is a wonderful device. With a little effort, it can fail to see even the most glaring injustice.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 23 (p. 300)
Context: “The human eye is a wonderful device,” I quoted from Poems and Other Prevarications absently. “With a little effort, it can fail to see even the most glaring injustice.”

“If they asked how I died tell them: Still angry.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon

“Naturally these penalties were applicable only to private citizens, not military commanders or government executives. The powerful are jealous of their toys.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 29 (p. 371)

“They were cold, professionally polished, and well on their way up a career ladder that would ensure that despite the uniforms they wore, they would never have to come within a thousand kilometers of a genuine firefight. The only problem they had, as they cruised sharkishly back and forth across the cool marble floor of the court, was in drawing the fine differences between war—mass murder of people wearing a uniform not your own; justifiable loss—mass murder of your own troops, but with substantial gains; and criminal negligence—mass murder of your own troops, without appreciable benefit.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 18 (p. 236)

““You’re not corporate,” she said definitely. “Corporates don’t do this stuff. Not like this.”
“The corporates do whatever turns a profit. Don’t let your prejudices blind you. Sure, they’ll burn down entire villages if it pays. But if having a human face is what cuts it, they’ll whip out a human face and put it on.””

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 30 (p. 377)

“Anyone who bar-codes their employees isn’t likely to be the forgiving type, and the reflex of long-held obedience through hierarchy is usually enough to overcome fear of a combat death. That’s how you fight wars, after all—with soldiers who are more afraid of stepping out of line than they are of dying on the battlefield.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 14 (p. 182)

““I’d rather you didn’t smoke in here.”
“Kawahara, I’d rather you died of an internal hemorrhage, but I don’t suppose you’ll oblige me.””

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 25 (p. 319)

“Culture is like a smog. To live within it, you must breathe some of it in and, inevitably, be contaminated.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 16 (p. 215)

“Whatever. If Carnegie wakes up not knowing, he might make some private inquiries, but he ain’t going to be in too much of a hurry to let the police department in on it. And if he wakes up knowing—” He spread his hands. “—he’ll make less noise than a Catholic orgasm.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 37 (p. 439)

“I paused and set down my glass, searching for the fine edge of deceit that always lies right up against the truth.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 32 (p. 394)

““Petty tyrant a long time back. He built this place.”
“Trepp said it belonged to the Catholics.”
Kawahara shrugged. “Petty tyrant with delusions of religion. Catholics get on well with tyranny. It’s in the culture.””

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 25 (p. 321)

“Whatever world it is, whatever you’ve done there for better or worse, you always leave the same way.
Alone.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Epilogue (p. 523)
Altered Carbon (2002)

““Kristin, nothing ever does change.” I jerked a thumb back at the crowd outside. “You’ll always have morons like that, swallowing belief patterns whole so they don’t have to think for themselves. You’ll always have people like Kawahara and the Bancrofts to push their buttons and cash in on the program. People like you to make sure the game runs smoothly and the rules don’t get broken too often. And when the Meths want to break the rules themselves, they’ll send people like Trepp and me to do it. That’s the truth, Kristin. It’s been the truth since I was born a hundred and fifty years ago, and from what I read in the history books, it’s never been any different. Better get used to it.””

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Epilogue (p. 524)
Altered Carbon (2002)

“The past is relevant only as data.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 18 (p. 242)

“Money doesn’t automatically mean taste.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 21 (p. 276)

“This was no time for thinking. Thought in combat was a luxury about as appropriate as a hot bath and massage.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 41 (p. 493)

“Just as a primitive sextant functions on the illusion that the sun and stars rotate around the planet we are standing on, our senses give us the illusion of stability in the universe, and we accept it, because without that acceptance, nothing can be done.
Virginia Vidaura, pacing the seminar room, lost in lecture mode.
But the fact that a sextant will let you navigate accurately across an ocean does not mean that the suns and stars do rotate are us. For all that we have done, as a civilization, as individuals, the universe is not stable, nor is any single thing within it. Stars consume themselves, the universe itself rushes apart, and we ourselves are composed of matter in constant flux. Colonies of cells in temporary alliance, replicating and decaying, and housed within, an incandescent cloud of electrical impulse and precariously stacked carbon code memory. This is reality, this is self-knowledge, and the perception of it will, of course, make you dizzy.”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 28 (pp. 354-355)

“The essence of control is to remain hidden from view, is it not?”

Richard K. Morgan book Altered Carbon

Source: Altered Carbon (2002), Chapter 25 (p. 318)

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