Quotes from book
The Einstein Intersection

Name: The Einstein Intersection
Author: Samuel R. Delany

The Einstein Intersection is a 1967 science fiction novel by Samuel R. Delany. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1967 and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1968. Delany's intended title for the book was A Fabulous, Formless Darkness.

“You're living in the real world now,” Spider said sadly. “It’s come from something. It’s going to something. Myths always lie in the most difficult places to ignore.”

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 11
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

““What are you doing here?” I asked at last.
“Probably the same thing you are.”
“What’s that?”
She looked serious. “Why don’t you tell me?”
I went back to my knife. “Sharpening my machete.”
“I'm sharpening my mind,” she said. “There is something to be done that will require an edge on both.””

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 2
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

“As morning branded the sea, darkness fell away at the far side of the beach. I turned to follow it.”

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 13 (closing words)
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

“In myths things always turn into their opposites as one version supersedes the next.”

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 2
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

“Difference is the foundation of those buildings, the pilings beneath the docks, tangled in the roots of the trees. Half the place was built on it. The other half couldn’t live without it. But to talk about it in public reveals you to be ill-mannered and vulgar.”

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 9
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

“You're not looking for me, you know. I'm looking for you.”

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 5
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

“Breathing is a fascinating thing to watch in a woman.”

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 12
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

“Whoever heard of La-ing or Lo-ing somebody you’re herding goats with, or laughing with, or making love with.”

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 2
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

“All life is a rhythm,” she said as I sat up. “All death is rhythm suspended, a syncopation before life resumes.”

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 2
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

“It is not that love sometimes makes mistakes, but that it is, essentially, a mistake. We fall in love when our imagination projects nonexistent perfections on to another person. One day the phantasmagoria vanishes, and with it love dies.”

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 9 (quoted from Ortega y Gasset, “On Love”)
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

““The beginning of the end, the beginning of the end,” muttered Lo Hawk. “We must preserve something.”
“The end of the beginning,” sighed La Dire. “Everything must change.””

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 1
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

“If you're going to do something stupid—and we all do—it might as well be a brave and foolish thing.”

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 3
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

“Earth, the world, the fifth planet from the sun—the species that stands on two legs and roams this thin wet crust: it’s changing, Lobey. It’s not the same. Some people walk under the sun and accept that change, others close their eyes, clap their hands to their ears, and deny the world with their tongues.”

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 11 (in the far future of the novel, the sun has captured two more planets)
The Einstein Intersection (1967)

“Once I was as ignorant as you; I swear, though, I can’t remember when.”

Samuel R. Delany book The Einstein Intersection

Section 9
The Einstein Intersection (1967)
Context: I must remember my own origins. Once I was as ignorant as you; I swear, though, I can’t remember when.