Welcome to my commonplace blog

The goal of this blog is to preserve a few ideas and quotes from books I read. In the old days when books were not so readily available, people kept "commonplace books" where they copied choice passages they wanted to be able to remember and perhaps reuse. The idea got picked up by V.F.D. and it's common knowledge that most of that organization's volunteers have kept commonplace books, and so have Laura and I.

I'm sure there are many other Internet sites and blogs dedicated to the same idea. But this one is mine. Feel free to look around and leave comments, but not spam.

29 August 2012

The Stars My Destination (Alfred Bester)

My friend Mike Perlowin considers this one of his favorite books.

It is very good classic SiFi, weird and ferocious.


Quotes:

Any man was capable of jaunting provided he developed two faculties, visualization and concentration. He had to visualize, completely and precisely, the spot to which he desired to teleport himself; and he had to concentrate the latent energy of his mind into a single thrust to get him there. Above all, he had to have faith...the faith that Charles Fort Jaunte never recovered. He had to believe he would jaunte. The slightest doubt would block the mind-thrust necessary for teleportation.

It was an age of freaks, monsters, and grotesques. All the world was misshapen in marvelous and malevolent ways.

“Scientifically mated,” Moira said proudly. She pulled up the sleeve of her nightgown and showed him her arm. It was disfigured by four ugly slashes. “I have been inoculated with something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.”

a gold organ with robot organist by Tiffany,

“The Burning Man! Look! The Burning Man!”

Revenge is for dreams…never for reality.”

“Sensible, matter-of-fact, like good businessmen who’ve had bad luck,” Sheffield answered promptly. “That’s the usual attitude of the professional criminal. It’s obvious you’re an amateur, if you’re a criminal at all.

But I’m not a robot. I’m a freak of the universe...a thinking animal...and I’m trying to see my way clear through this morass.

“Because you’re alive, sir. You might as well ask: Why is life? Don’t ask about it. Live it.”

“I believe,” he thought. “I have faith.” He jaunted again and failed again. “Faith in what?” he asked himself, adrift in limbo. “Faith in faith,” he answered himself. “It isn’t necessary to have something to believe in. It’s only necessary to believe that somewhere there’s something worthy of belief.”

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