“
Love makes the world go round? Not at all. Whiskey makes it go round twice as fast.
”
”
Compton Mackenzie
“
I have a big hole in my heart," I said. "But it'll close over."
I don't want to sound all Dr. Phil," she said. "But don't let the scab seal the pain in, okay?"
That's good advice," I said. "I hope I can manage it.
”
”
Charlaine Harris (Definitely Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #6))
“
Bubba made a sound of disapproval "You're not supposed to be kissing on anybody else, Miss Sookie" he said "Bill said it was okay, but I don't like it.
”
”
Charlaine Harris (Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse, #4))
“
For awhile I taped soap operas and watched them at night when I thought I might be forgetting what it was like to be human. After a while I stopped, because from the examples I saw on those shows, forgetting humanity was a good thing.
”
”
Charlaine Harris (Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1))
“
Sweetheart," Bill said formally, "I have always loved you, and I will be proud to die in your service. When I'm gone, say a prayer for me in a real church.
”
”
Charlaine Harris
“
They found the corpse in the closet of Alcide's apartment, and they hatched a plan to hide his remains." Eric sounded like that had been kind of cute of us.
"My Sookie hid a corpse?"
"I don't think you can be too sure about that possessive pronoun."
"Where did you learn that term, Northman?"
"I took 'English as a Second Language' at a community college in the seventies.
”
”
Charlaine Harris (Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #3))
“
I love you,” Bill said helplessly, as if he wished those magic words would heal me. But he knew they wouldn’t.
“That’s what you all keep saying,” I answered. “But it doesn’t seem to get me any happier.
”
”
Charlaine Harris (Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse, #11))
“
Everyone thinks I'm crazy, you know, because I can't tell them the truth; which is, that I'm driven crazy by all these thoughts, all these heads.
”
”
Charlaine Harris
“
Oklahoma is very beautiful, and Eric loves beauty, but he already has that in you.
”
”
Charlaine Harris (Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse, #11))
“
I did what I have been told to do by my queen. In so doing, I fell into a trap I couldn't escape. I still can't."
"The trap of LUUUUVVVV, I thought sarcastically. But he was too serious, too calm, to mock.
”
”
Charlaine Harris (From Dead to Worse (Sookie Stackhouse, #8))
“
Of course I am grateful, and I'm sure you are, as you put it, a special vintage," Bill said politely, "But I have my own wine cellar.
”
”
Charlaine Harris (Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1))
“
Sometimes absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder. Sometimes it just makes the heart hurt.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
He greeted the twins like they were all from the same hood in Compton and gave Dex and me the head nod.
”
”
Karina Halle (Darkhouse (Experiment in Terror, #1))
“
Was I just curious about what the agenda might be at a vampire summit? Did I want the attention of more undead members of society? Did I want to be known as a fangbanger, one of those humans who simply adored the walking dead? Did some corner of me long for a chance to be near Bill without seeking him out, still trying to make some emotional sense
of his betrayal? Or was this about Eric? Unbeknownst to myself, was I in love with the flamboyant Viking who was so handsome, so good at making love, and so political, all atthe same time?
This sounded like a promising set of problems for a soap opera season.
”
”
Charlaine Harris (All Together Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #7))
“
Nobody sees me like you do, and without you, I’ll be invisible. I exist because you see me.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
A comfortable rut and a grave are very much alike. The only real difference is the dimensions.
”
”
Ralph Compton (The Winchester Run (Sundown Riders, #3))
“
Speaking of things robs them of half their terrors.
”
”
Ivy Compton-Burnett (Manservant and Maidservant)
“
Whose fault is it, then? Dennis Compton's (Basil Fawlty)
”
”
John Cleese
“
I’d say to myself, Andrew Compton, you’ve sucked their cold mouths and cocks; you’ve licked their blood from your hands by the bucketful; you’ve boiled the flesh off their skulls, then used the same pot to make curry. Why not just fry up a few tender bits and see what it’s like—perhaps with a nice egg?
”
”
Poppy Z. Brite (Exquisite Corpse)
“
My darling love, I think you have a fundamental misconception about what it means to be a great dandy. I have better taste than anyone else so I don't care what anyone else thinks about anything. I am right and they are wrong.
”
”
Miranda Neville (The Amorous Education of Celia Seaton (The Burgundy Club, #3))
“
...poets generally write as if they were dead.
”
”
Ivy Compton-Burnett
“
He that is slow to believe anything and everything is of great understanding, for belief in one false principle is the beginning of all unwisdom.
Compton
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
A Call for the Overthrow of the World Government, the Infidels. Attack them in their homes, markets, roads, and their forums. Kill them all: intensify your operations on Earth.
Compton 6:66
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
Arthur Compton became my graduate advisor. He was the ideal graduate advisor for me: he came into my research room only once during my graduate career and usually had no idea how I was spending my time.
”
”
Luis Walter Alvarez (Alvarez (Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Series))
“
A memory is never as good as a moment.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
People do not like to lose their lives. That is the reason why they should not take other people's.
”
”
Ivy Compton-Burnett
“
The more thou search, the more thou shall marvel.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
Okay," I said. "I'd hoped to avoid this, but... Bill, I rescind your invitation into my house." Bill began walking backward to the door, a helpless look on his face, and my brush still in his hand. Eric grinned at him triumphantly.
"Eric," I said, and his smile faded. "I rescind your invitation into my house." And backward he went, out my door and off my porch. The door slammed shut behind (or maybe in front of?) them.
”
”
Charlaine Harris (Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #3))
“
If they’d been at an out-of-control party in Compton, they would not have knocked. Leimert Park, Inglewood, Downtown, Koreatown, East L.A., Van Nuys, they would have walked right in. But this was Malibu, where the rich white people live. And rich white people get the benefit of the doubt and all of its many benefits.
”
”
Taylor Jenkins Reid (Malibu Rising)
“
The Easy Company men began throwing grenades at the retreating enemy. Compton had been an All-American catcher on the UCLA baseball team. The distance to the fleeing enemy was about the same as from home plate to second base. Compton threw his grenade on a straight line—no arch—and it hit a German in the head as it exploded. He,
”
”
Stephen E. Ambrose (Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest)
“
It is so subtle to write things that have no meaning
”
”
Ivy Compton-Burnett
“
Love is not standing in someone’s shadow, it’s basking in their light. The blinding strength of your light combined pushes the darkness away.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Let me be the type man who plants a field of flowers so you can be the type of woman who picks them.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Although we try to control it in a million different ways, the only things you can ever really do to time are enjoy it, or waste it. That’s it.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
If one million of you give assent to the one thousand who participate in the murder of a child, then one million of you are a million times guilty.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
real-world-immersion friends in Compton.
”
”
Kevin Kwan (China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians, #2))
“
This is not good," I said. "These guys have a superiority complex bigger than Miss Compton's butt."
"And she had the biggest butt of them all," Kyle said.
”
”
John Corwin (The Next Thing I Knew)
“
Thy heart had gone too far in this world, and think thou to comprehend the way of the most High?
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
We’ve gotten to that stage all soulmates reach of speaking in broken phrases and incomplete sentences, our connected and all-knowing minds filling in the blanks left by redundant words.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
We finally figured out that when you set off a nuke in space, that’s when the EMP effect really kicks in, as the energy burst hits the upper atmosphere. It becomes like a pebble triggering an avalanche, the electrical disturbances magnifying. It’s in the report. It’s called the ‘Compton Effect.
”
”
William R. Forstchen (One Second After)
“
The word meltdown had not yet entered the reactor engineer’s vocabulary—Fermi was only then inventing that specialty—but that is what Compton was risking, a small Chernobyl in the midst of a crowded city.
”
”
Richard Rhodes (The Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition)
“
We each get twenty-four hours.
1,440 minutes.
86,400 seconds.
Every day for the rest of your days.
You can’t make more, or give any away.
But you can prioritize them for the right people, or waste them on the wrong ones.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
I’m a feeler. I feel everything deep within my core. Even when I don’t want to. I don’t know where my emotions stop and my empathy begins. I feel from the tips of my toes to the follicles of my head. I feel with every fiber, every molecule, every tissue, marrow, muscle, and bone in my body. I feel.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
I loved him before I knew him. I missed him before I met him. We were soulmates long before we were strangers.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Things can’t mend without being broken.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
I would lose him a thousand lifetimes over if it meant I got the chance to love him a thousand times. And have him love me back.
If only for a little while.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
We kiss with our eyes closed but our senses open, infusing the spaces between with the elements of the other.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Adequate photographers use their sight, good photographers use their senses, and great photographers use their souls.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Did you ever notice how the words Attention and Alienation look the same when you are staring at them from a distance?
”
”
Alisia Compton
“
Justice is about harmony... revenge is about you making yourself feel better.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
The harder you search the more troubled you become.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
The flowers are so beautiful, but God's love is infinitely stronger for us than the beauty of ALL flowers and all beautiful things combined!
”
”
Craig Compton
“
He’s such an extraordinarily brilliant person that it would be terrible if he let himself do nothing in the end.
”
”
Compton Mackenzie (Plashers Mead)
“
No crime is a means to an end. No crime can be rationalized.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
Nous sommes les joyeux drilles, les boute-en-train, toi, moi et les autres. Nous faisons front contre la marée de ceux qui veulent plonger le monde dans la désolation en suscitant le conflit entre la théorie et la pensée. Nous avons les doigts accrochés au parapet. Tenons bon. Ne laissons pas le torrent de la mélancolie et de la triste philosophie noyer notre monde. Nous comptons sur toi. Je ne crois pas que tu te rendes compte de ton importance, de notre importance pour protéger l'optimisme de notre monde actuel.
”
”
Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451)
“
Bad friends try to change you, good friends accept your differences, while true friends embrace and celebrate them. Watching this circle of clowns, I know I've made the truest of friends. I'm glad I didn't settle for anything else.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
We live and learn, change and grow. Older, but not always wiser. Stronger but not necessarily smarter. Life is a dance of steps taken forward and backwards, time spent standing still, and twirling in circles as we follow our own shadows.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
The head/heart duality is a well-known cultural phenomenon. In everyday speech we use "heart" as a shorthand to refer to our emotional state or our faith and "head" to refer to cognition or reason. Should I follow my head or my heart? Both "head" and "heart," while they are literally the names of body parts, are commonly used to stand for nonbodily phenonmena, for mental processes. But what body part do we use when we want to refer explicitly to our coporeal self? Whe, the humble "ass," of course! Consider the seminal gangsta rappers Niggaz with Attitude, who in thier classic track "Straight Outta Compton" rhyme: "Niggaz start to mumble / They wanna rumble / Mix 'em and cook 'em in a pot like gumbo / Goin' off on a motherfucker like that / With a gat that's pointed at yo ass." Do the guys in NWA mean to say that a gun is literally pointed downward, at your tuchas? Of course not. We understand that in this context "ass" means "corporeal self.
”
”
David J. Linden (The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good)
“
The fundamental biological variant is DNA. That is why Mendel's definition of the gene as the unvarying bearer of hereditary traits, its chemical identification by Avery (confirmed by Hershey), and the elucidation by Watson and Crick of the structural basis of its replicative invariance, are without any doubt the most important discoveries ever made in biology. To this must be added the theory of natural selection, whose certainty and full significance were established only by those later theories.
”
”
Jacques Monod (Chance and Necessity: An Essay on the Natural Philosophy of Modern Biology)
“
So there you have it: hearing voices at sea is not a pathological condition. It’s quite normal. Welcome to the world of illusions at sea. Of mirages, looming, towering, stooping and sinking. Of moons that change size, suns that change shape, horizons that bend, lights that change colour, and sounds that play hide and seek. Of waves that speak, ships that effervesce and whales that turn into baby elephants. For the sea has a lobsterpot full of tricks and illusions to confuse and beguile even the most rational 21st century sailor.
”
”
Nic Compton (Off the Deep End: A History of Madness at Sea)
“
We’re once again just a boy and a girl searching and failing for words and moments that transcend the mundane.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Be the person you want people to one day say you were. And start now. Because the timeless truth remains that time is running out for all of us, ready or not.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
There are two types of women. The ones who wait to receive flowers and the ones who go out and pick them.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Our eyes are closed, but even without seeing, they’re only for each other.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Grief is always amplified in silence.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
I will fight death for my right to live until my last breath.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
All great adventures start with an idea.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
I was only able to move forward once I let go of my fear of leaving him behind.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Sometimes things don’t have to have a point. There’s a special kind of beauty and freedom in the just because.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
[ . . . ] books are full of secrets and wonders.
”
”
Johnny Compton (The Spite House)
“
…I felt him come up behind me and fold his arms around me like a blanket. His hug was the best thing I ever felt. It was my world rolled up in a comfortable squeeze.
”
”
T.H. Compton (Becoming Built (Built for You #2))
“
You can do anything you want, you just have to make it happen.
”
”
Johnny Compton (The Spite House)
“
Well, the English have no family feelings. That is, none of the kind you mean. They have them, and one of them is that relations must cause no expense.
”
”
Ivy Compton-Burnett (Parents and Children)
“
Poetry is the guardian of love - constructed from truth it is a bridge that can be crossed from either side and it is oblivious of age or gender
”
”
Rodney Compton
“
To a Mormon at the doorstep of a psychologis: I know what you think you think, but I know what you think.
”
”
Rodney Compton
“
I can eraser you out just as easily as I can pencil you in.
”
”
Brenda Lee Compton
“
Go thy way, and tell my people, the people of thy Lord God what manner of things, and how great wonders of the Lord thy God, thou hast seen.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
Weigh thou therefore their wickedness now in the balance, and theirs also that dwell the world; and so shall thy name no where be found anymore.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
From the beginning, look, what thou desires to see, it shall be shew thee.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
Iniquity shall be increased above that which now thou see, or that thou hast heard long ago.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
The land, that thou see now to have root, shall thou see wasted suddenly.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
An extreme fearfulness moves through all your body, and your mind is troubled more.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
Hear me, and I will instruct thee; hearken to the thing that I say, and I shall tell thee more.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
As for you, you're unwise: how may you then speak of these things whereof thou ask you?
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
Even so have I given the womb of the earth to those that be sown in it in their times.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
They that be born in the strength of youth are of one fashion, and they that are born in the time of age, when the womb fail, are otherwise.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
I’m no longer on the outside looking in, but on the inside looking around. This new vantage point makes all the difference. It’s amazing how a change of perspective can change a life.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
There’s magic and metaphors in music superior to any other art form. An exquisite alchemy is involved in mixing pieces of your self and soul into the precisely perfect blend of harmonies, melodies, and lyrics that strike a chord.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Ashe was typical of that strata of mankind which conducts its human relationships according to a principle of challenge and response. Where there was softness, he would advance; where he found resistance, retreat. Having himself no particular opinions or tastes he relied upon whatever conformed with those of his companion. He was as ready to drink tea at Fortnum's as beer at the Prospect of Whitby; he would listen to military music in St. James's Park or jazz in Compton Street cellar; his voice would tremble with sympathy when he spoke of Sharpeville, or with indignation at the growth of Britain's colored population. To Leamas this observably passive role was repellent; it brought out the bully in him, so that he would lead the other gently into a position where he was committed, and then himself withdraw, so that Ashe was constantly scampering back from some cul-de-sac into which Leamas had enticed him.
”
”
John le Carré (The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (George Smiley, #3))
“
In the grave the chambers of souls are like the womb of a woman: For like as a woman that travails make haste to escape the necessity of the travail: even so do these places haste to deliver those things that are committed unto them.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
The greatest futility! says the congregator, "The greatest futility! Everything is futile!" What does a person gain from all his hard work- At which he toils under the sun? A generation goes and another cometh forth, but the earth remains the same.
”
”
COMPTON GAGE
“
For all the heartache, pain, and suffering. The grief and the torture. The hatred and the depravity. The abuse and the isolation. For all of the negativity and darkness this cruel world has to offer. Sometimes, just sometimes, the clouds part, the sun shines, and life reminds you why it’s good to be alive.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Learning takes a lifetime and even the geniuses among us die ignorant. You should always want to learn, to grow, to improve. Otherwise what’s the point? You may as well just give up and die. There’s always new things to see, people to meet, lessons to learn. Life is both a classroom and a teacher. We’ll always be the students, never the professors.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Love is not standing in someone’s shadow, it’s basking in their light. The blinding strength of your light combined pushes the darkness away.
True love is not two half-lives joining together to form a perfect circle. It’s two people who were whole to begin with. Their individual circles join and overlap like a Venn diagram where their souls sit in-between, sharing the space instead of competing for it.
And when you are around them, there’s no such thing as too close. You try to capture their whispered words with your lips so that they don’t escape and reach anyone else’s ears. You press your body up against theirs with a quiet sense of desperation, resenting the layers of skin and muscle which prevent you from sinking into their bones.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
And suddenly I realize that all those books and movies had gotten it wrong.
When you find your souls reflection in another, you shouldn’t be aware of anything other than their body, yours, and the space between.
You shouldn’t be looking for someone whose kiss causes you to escape reality by transporting you to another time and place.
Look for the person whose kiss grounds you firmly in the moment, whose arms hold you safely in the now.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
This is one of those moments when I wish I could be young forever. Not just stop time for a second, but for an eternity.
The old paradox that youth is wasted on the young is not true for us. Neither I nor my friends take our youth for granted.
In fact, all of the young people I know are all too aware that someday soon time and gravity won’t be on their side anymore.
And there’s nothing we can do about it. So the young do the only thing they can do. They live and they love and they dance and they sing, they dream and they scheme, they ponder and they plan.
Like there’s no tomorrow. For tomorrow brings us one day closer to the inevitable and one day further from the impossible.
And being young is all about achieving the impossible. Or at least believing you can. The old mistake our denial for ignorance, our immaturity for irresponsibility.
We understand the rules of life, we just don’t want to play by them.
Not yet.
Not today.
Not tonight.
Because tonight is a good night to be young and alive.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
During those years his writers were Kerouac, Hesse and Camus. From among the living, Lowell, Moorcock, Ballard and Burroughs. Ballard had been to King’s, Cambridge but Roland forgave him that, as he would have forgiven him anything. He had a romantic view of writers. They should be, if not barefoot bums, light-footed, unrooted, free, living a vagabond life on the edge, gazing into the abyss and telling the world what was down there. Not knighthoods or pearls, for sure. Decades later he was more generous. Less stupid. A tweed jacket never stopped anyone from writing well. He believed it was extremely difficult to write a very good novel and to get halfway there was also an achievement. He deplored the way literary editors commissioned novelists rather than critics to review each other’s work. He thought it was a grisly spectacle, insecure writers condemning the fiction of their colleagues to make elbow room for themselves. His ignorant twenty-seven-year-old self would have sneered at Roland’s favourites now. He was reading through a domestic canon that lay just beyond the great encampments of literary modernism. Henry Green, Antonia White, Barbara Pym, Ford Madox Ford, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Patrick Hamilton. Some had
”
”
Ian McEwan (Lessons)
“
Legacies are not just for legends. Whether a million people know your name, or only one person does, you still have the right to leave your mark on the world, even if it’s only in your tiny corner of it, in the tiniest of ways.
Not all of us will achieve great heights and feats. Most of us will never leave our hometown or country, let alone conquer Everest. And you know what? That’s okay.
Because real life is what happens in between moments of greatness. It’s the little things that at the end of it all, you realize were greater than the sum of their parts. It’s the amount of times you laughed, or cried, danced, sang, created, inspired, and made someone smile.
The best kind of legacies are the ones that are unseen. You’ll never fully be able to measure the effect of a smile or a kind word, but I promise you, the most whispered phrase can send a shockwave around the world that lasts for centuries, or even an eternity.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Drowning in the majesty of the constellations is a reminder that the universe was here long before us, and it will be here long after we’re gone.
When our bones become nothing but ash and earth, the world will keep on spinning.
People will die, cry, love, and live as if we never were.
But we are now. And that’s all that matters.
In this moment, we are.
Nothing but a boy and a girl.
On the cusp of something greater than ourselves.
Entering into the unknown and hoping we make it out the other side.
With a strong sense of ourselves and only a faint idea of who we want to be.
We are what we are.
And we. are. now.
Young, free, alive.
Here, together, loved.
”
”
A.J. Compton (The Counting-Downers)
“
Augmentez la dose de sports pour chacun, développez l'esprit d'équipe, de compétition, et le besoin de penser est éliminé, non ? Organiser, organisez, super-organisez des super-super-sports. Multipliez les bandes dessinées, les films; l'esprit a de moins en moins d'appétits. L'impatience, les autos-trades sillonnées de foules qui sont ici, là, partout, nulle part. Les réfugiés du volant. Les villes se transforment en auberges routières; les hommes se déplacent comme des nomades suivant les phases de la lune, couchant ce soir dans la chambre où tu dormais à midi et moi la veille. (1re partie)
On vit dans l'immédiat. Seul compte le boulot et après le travail l'embarras du choix en fait de distractions. Pourquoi apprendre quoi que ce soit sinon à presser les boutons, brancher des commutateurs, serrer des vis et des écrous ?
Nous n'avons pas besoin qu'on nous laisse tranquilles. Nous avons besoin d'être sérieusement tracassés de temps à autre. Il y a combien de temps que tu n'as pas été tracassée sérieusement ? Pour une raison importante je veux dire, une raison valable ?
- Tu dois bien comprendre que notre civilisation est si vaste que nous ne pouvons nous permettre d'inquiéter ou de déranger nos minorités. Pose-toi la question toi-même. Que recherchons-nous, par-dessus tout, dans ce pays ? Les gens veulent être heureux, d'accord ? Ne l'as-tu pas entendu répéter toute la vie ? Je veux être heureux, déclare chacun. Eh bien, sont-ils heureux ? Ne veillons-nous pas à ce qu'ils soient toujours en mouvement, toujours distraits ? Nous ne vivons que pour ça, c'est bien ton avis ? Pour le plaisir, pour l'excitation. Et tu dois admettre que notre civilisation fournit l'un et l'autre à satiété.
Si le gouvernement est inefficace, tyrannique, vous écrase d'impôts, peu importe tant que les gens n'en savent rien. La paix, Montag. Instituer des concours dont les prix supposent la mémoire des paroles de chansons à la mode, des noms de capitales d'État ou du nombre de quintaux de maïs récoltés dans l'Iowa l'année précédente. Gavez les hommes de données inoffensives, incombustibles, qu'ils se sentent bourrés de "faits" à éclater, renseignés sur tout. Ensuite, ils s'imagineront qu'ils pensent, ils auront le sentiment du mouvement, tout en piétinant. Et ils seront heureux, parce que les connaissances de ce genre sont immuables. Ne les engagez pas sur des terrains glissants comme la philosophie ou la sociologie à quoi confronter leur expérience. C'est la source de tous les tourments. Tout homme capable de démonter un écran mural de télévision et de le remonter et, de nos jours ils le sont à peu près tous, est bien plus heureux que celui qui essais de mesurer, d'étalonner, de mettre en équations l'univers ce qui ne peut se faire sans que l'homme prenne conscience de son infériorité et de sa solitude.
Nous sommes les joyeux drilles, les boute-en-train, toi, moi et les autres. Nous faisons front contre la marée de ceux qui veulent plonger le monde dans la désolation en suscitant le conflit entre la théorie et la pensée. Nous avons les doigts accrochés au parapet. Tenons bon. Ne laissons pas le torrent de la mélancolie et de la triste philosophie noyer notre monde. Nous comptons sur toi. Je ne crois pas que tu te rendes compte de ton importance, de notre importance pour protéger l'optimisme de notre monde actuel.
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Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451)