Philip José Farmer Quotes

The world took a shape which he could grasp, though he could not comprehend it. Above him, on both sides, below him, as far as he could see, bodies floated. They were arranged in vertical and horizontal rows. The up-and-down ranks were separated by red rods, slender as broomsticks, one of which was twelve inches from the feet of the sleepers and the other twelve inches from their heads. Each body was spaced about six feet from the body above and below and on each side.
The rods came up from an abyss without bottom and soared into an abyss without ceiling. That grayness into which the rods and the bodies, up and down, right and left, disappeared was neither the sky nor the earth. There was nothing in the distance except the lackluster of infinity.

What does that mean?"
"I don't know, but it sounds deep. I'll think up an explanation later.

Resurrection, like politics, makes strange bedfellows.

Burton thought the man was crazy, though he was discreet enough not to say so. He and his crew had fallen into the hands of fanatics. Fortunately, the god had told Metusael that his worshipers must hurt no one unless it was in self-defense. However, he knew from experience that “self-defense” could mean whatever a person or group wanted it to mean.

Sometimes I regret we are forbidden any violence whatsoever. Right now, I would like to kick you in the ass.

Yes, we hope to seed a new, rich earth.
We hope to breed a race of men whose power
Dwells in hearts as open as all Space
Itself, who ask for nothing but the light
That rinses the heart of hate so that the stars
Above will be below when man has Love.

These people who expect to be saints in heaven, though they were not on Earth, have ignored the wisdom of the founders of the great religions. This wisdom is that the kingdom of heaven is within you and that you do not go to heaven unless you are already in it. The magic must be wrought by you and you alone. God has no fairy wand to tap the pig and turn it into a swan.

People ignore this. And those who believe in sinners burning in hell are, perhaps, not so much concerned with going to heaven as with being sure that sinners-–others-–roast forever in the flames.

- И защо човечеството получи своята Втора Възможност? - попита Колоп с тихия си сериозен глас.
- Нима я заслужава? Не. С малко изключения хората са подло, нищожно, дребнаво, злобно, тесногръдо, невероятно себично, вечно препиращо се и гнусно гъмжило. Като го наблюдават, боговете - или Бог - би трябвало да повърнат. Но в тази божествена храчка се намират и съсиреци на състраданието, моля да ме извините, че си служа с подобни образи. Колкото и да е долен човекът, той съдържа сребърната нишка на божественото в себе си. Не е безсмислено твърдението, че човек е сътворен по образ и подобие Божие. И в най лошите сред нас има нещо, което си струва да бъде съхранено, и от това нещо може да възникне новият човек.

Purgatory is hell with hope.

Dreams haunted The Riverworld.

It was the essence of life to disbelieve in death for one's self, to act as if life would continue forever. And life had to act also as if little issues were big ones. To take a realistic attitude toward life and death meant that one lapsed into unreality. Into insanity. It was ironic that the only way to keep one's sanity was to ignore that one was in an insane world or to act as if the world were sane.

You had to make your choice between survival and efficiency, though in the long run survival was optimum efficiency, no matter how much time and effort it took.

And love, if put off too long, was too late, wasted. It could not make up for the lost time, no matter how much was then poured out.

Out of nothing I come, through a world populated by asses I pass, and into nothing I go.

Sometimes you are arrogant, thinking you are better than others. More often you are humble. Too humble. I might even say, sickeningly humble. That is another form of arrogance. True humility is knowing your true place in the cosmic scale.