Neal Stephenson Quotes

[CellularIconoclast]

"Which path do you intend to take, Nell?" said the Constable,
sounding very interested. "Conformity or rebellion?"
"Neither one. Both ways are simple-minded - they are only for people who cannot cope with contradiction and ambiguity."

Any strategy that involves crossing a valley— accepting short-term losses to reach a higher hill in the distance— will soon be brought to a halt by the demands of a system that celebrates short-term gains and tolerates stagnation, but condemns anything else as failure. In short, a world where big stuff can never get done.

The corporations have already planted their own bombs. All we have to do is light the fuses.

It's a wonderful thing to be clever, and you should never think otherwise, and you should never stop being that way. But what you learn, as you get older, is that there are a few billion other people in the world all trying to be clever at the same time, and whatever you do with your life will certainly be lost—swallowed up in the ocean—unless you are doing it along with like-minded people who will remember your contributions and carry them forward. That is why the world is divided into tribes.

 

[CellularIconoclast]

Are people starving to death? Or are they sick because they are too fat?
[snip]
Sort of both at the same time.

The world is full of power and energy and a person can go far by just skimming off a tiny bit of it.

"Wait a minute, Juanita. Make up your mind. This Snow Crash thing—is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?"
Juanita shrugs. "What's the difference?"