Daniel Suarez Quotes

Anything before you’re thirty-five is new and exciting, and anything after that is proof the world’s going to hell.

I’ve always been your friend, Alexa. Now go. I will try to kill you as unsuccessfully as I can.

A hundred stories each and draped in vines, the dozen towers resembled overgrown postapocalyptic ruins — except for their glittering organometallic lights. Acre for acre, the towers produced ten times the food of a traditional farm on just a fraction of the water. Zero pesticides. Almost entirely automated.

"Picture this: you work at a plant that makes Halloween stuff — you know, like, rubber severed heads. And you’re all like: Americans decorate their homes with severed heads? These fuckers are savages, man." Sebeck

In all, his outfit required nearly two thousand man-years of research and development, eight barrels of oil, and sixteen patent and trademark infringement lawsuits. All so he could possess casual style. A style that, in logistical requirements, was comparable to fielding a nineteenth-century military brigade.
But he looked good. Casual.

the public doesn’t really decide anything now — they just select from the options they’re given.

Are you familiar with the Fates, Sergeant? Greek legend said that they spun the threads of men’s lives and cut them at a length of their choosing. Like the Fates, I severed the thread of your life . . ..

So what? So what if everyone cares? What does that do for us? The situation we’re in isn’t going to be solved by angry posts and best fucking wishes. Public outrage has never stopped these bastards.

Biotech companies spread patented genetic sequences via the natural ecosystem—much like a computer virus. Then they use the legal system to claim ownership of any organism their patented genetic sequences invade. They are raiding communal seed banks, obtaining patents for naturally occurring apples, sugar beets, corn, and a host of other plants and animals. They have immorally seized control of the food system and stand poised to claim ownership of life itself unless we take action.

No, it’s better than alchemy — it’s science.

I've been amused by the debate in America over whether torture is effective... Of course it's effective.

Which is why human society mostly works; people avoid trouble. But behind every law is the implicit threat of force, and behind every vote is the implicit threat of rebellion. That's the bargain that holds a free society together. And no society with a wide power imbalance remains free for very long.

And I tell you that Americans are fucking ignorant of their freedom. They're about as free as the Chinese. Except the Chinese don't lie to themselves.

They’re called sock puppets. We create armies of artificial online personas – user accounts that espouse views certain interested parties want espoused. We flood forums, online comment sections, social media. ... It’s amazing what a few people and a little money can accomplish online. Our puppets have turned whole elections. … Everything the public sees is managed. If there’s a valuable brand to protect – whether it’s a person or a dish soap – these fuckers are out there protecting it, shaping the narrative. I mean… who the hell follows dish soap on Twitter? How does anyone believe that shit’s real? (p. 292-294)

There’s no better time to celebrate friendship than when things are at their worst.