Nook Edition)
"Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery", p. 342 (Nook edition)
Cloud Atlas (2004)
Quotes from book
Cloud Atlas
Cloud Atlas is the third novel by British author David Mitchell. Published in 2004, the fantastical speculative fiction book consists of six interconnected nested stories that take the reader from the remote South Pacific in the nineteenth century to the island of Hawai'i in a distant post-apocalyptic future. The author has said that the book is about reincarnation and the universality of human nature, and the title references a changing landscape over manifestations of fixed human nature . The title was inspired by the piece of music of the same name by Japanese composer Toshi Ichiyanagi.
"Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After", p. 286
Cloud Atlas (2004)
“Human hunger birthed the Civ'lize, but human hunger killed it too.”
"Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After", p. 286
Cloud Atlas (2004)
“Whoever opined "Money can't buy you happiness" obviously had far too much of the stuff.”
"Letters from Zedelghem", p. 78 (Nook Edition)
Cloud Atlas (2004)
The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing, Monday, 13th January —, p. 528
Cloud Atlas (2004)
"Letters from Zedelghem", p. 462
Cloud Atlas (2004)
"Letters from Zedelghem", p. 462
Cloud Atlas (2004)
“Travel far enough, you meet yourself.”
"An Orison of Sonmi~451", p. 282 (Nook Edition)
Cloud Atlas (2004)
"The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing", p. 24 (Nook Edition)
Cloud Atlas (2004)
“How lazily "xperts" [sic] dismiss what they fail to understand.”
"An Orison of Sonmi~451", p. 305 (Nook Edition)
Cloud Atlas (2004)
Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?
The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing, Monday, 13th January —, p. 528-529.
Cloud Atlas (2004)
"An Orison of Sonmi~451", p. 168 (Nook Edition)
Cloud Atlas (2004)
“In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction.”
The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing, Monday, 13th January —, p. 528
Cloud Atlas (2004)
Context: Scholars discern motions in history & formulate these motions into rules that govern the rises & falls of civilizations. My belief runs contrary, however. To wit: history admits no rules; only outcomes.
What precipitates outcomes? Vicious acts & virtuous acts.
What precipitates acts? Belief.
Belief is both prize & battlefield, within the mind & in the mind’s mirror, the world. If we believe humanity is a ladder of tribes, a colosseum of confrontation, exploitation & bestiality, such a humanity is surely brought into being, & history’s Horroxes, Boer-haaves & Gooses shall prevail. You & I, the moneyed, the privileged, the fortunate, shall not fare so badly in this world, provided our luck holds. What of it if our consciences itch? Why undermine the dominance of our race, our gunships, our heritage & our legacy? Why fight the “natural” (oh, weaselly word!) order of things?
Why? Because of this: — one fine day, a purely predatory world shall consume itself. Yes, the Devil shall take the hindmost until the foremost is the hindmost. In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction.
Is this the doom written within our nature?
If we believe that humanity may transcend tooth & claw, if we believe divers races & creeds can share this world as peaceably as the orphans share their candlenut tree, if we believe leaders must be just, violence muzzled, power accountable & the riches of the Earth & its Oceans shared equitably, such a world will come to pass. I am not deceived. It is the hardest of worlds to make real. Torturous advances won over generations can be lost by a single stroke of a myopic president’s pen or a vainglorious general’s sword.
"Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After", p. 286
Cloud Atlas (2004)
“The better organized the state, the duller its humanity.”
"Letters from Zedelghem", p. 64 (Nook Edition)
Cloud Atlas (2004)
"Letters from Zedelghem", p. 75
Cloud Atlas (2004)
“Books don't offer real escape but they can stop a mind scratching itself raw.”
"Letters from Zedelghem"
Cloud Atlas (2004)
"The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish", p. 312 (Nook edition)
Cloud Atlas (2004)
"The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish", p. 389
Cloud Atlas (2004)
