“Nowadays people rush into print before they’ve even finished the proof.”
“Thales did something different. He asked questions to which he didn’t know the answers.”
“I forzati del portatile lo guardarono con indulgenza, mentre cercava con ansia febbrile. Il portapenne non c'era più. Si era certamente spezzato! Chinandosi per guardare sotto il tavolo, notò il rigonfiamento in una delle opere che trattavano di matematica e, aprendola, trovò il portapenne di Murano, infilato tra due pagine.”
“[...] Quella perdita della libertà nello spazio fisico, aveva trovato il modo di compensarla, sostituendovi spazi di pensiero nuovi. Ciascuno se la cava come può, ammesso che ci riesca.”
“I libri non resuscitano i morti, e non fanno di un idiota un uomo capace di ragionare, né di uno stupido un individuo intelligente: aguzzano lo spirito, lo destano, lo affinano e appagano la sua sete di conoscenza. Quanto a chi vuol sapere tutto, è meglio che la famiglia lo faccia curare, perché un simile desiderio non può che nascere da un turbamento dello spirito. Muto quando gli imponi il silenzio, eloquente quando lo fai parlare. Grazie al libro, puoi apprendere nello spazio di un mese quello che un'eternità non ti consentirebbe di apprendere dalle labbra di un sapiente, e questo senza farti contrarre debiti di sapere. Ti libera dall'imbarazzo, ti solleva dalle necessità di frequentare persone odiose e di avere rapporti con individui stupidi e incapaci di comprendere. Ti obbedisce di giorno come di notte, tanto in viaggio quanto nei periodi in cui sei sedentario. Se cadi in disgrazia, non per questo il libro rinuncia a servirti; se venti contrari soffiano contro di te, non ti si rivolta contro. Accade talvolta che il libro sia superiore al suo autore.”
“Halt snorted derisively. "Battleschool evidently isn't what it used to be," he replied. "It's a fine thing when an old man like me can sleep comfortably in the open while a young boy gets all stiff and rheumatic over it."
Horace shrugged. "Be that as it may," he replied, "I'll still be glad to sleep in a bed tonight."
Actually, Halt felt the same way. But he wasn't going to let Horace no that.”
“Excuse me, have you seen Death? Big guy with black feathery wings? Likes to reap souls?”
“Humility is not an attribute but a key to development.”
“One thing I am certain of, I do not want to be betrayed, but thats quite hard to say casually, at the beginning of a relationship. It’s not a word people use very often, which confuses me, because there are different kinds of infidelity, but betrayal is betrayal wherever you find it. By betrayal, I mean promising to be on your side, and then being on somebody else’s.”
“I should have said something. ... But my mouth wouldn't open, and the longer I stood there in silence, the better I can to understand the problem. It wasn't that I had nothing to say to him. It was that I had too much to say.”
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