Organized mayhem," Nick commented, "seems to be the chief preoccupation of intelligent species everywhere. - Jack McDevitt

Truth is like nudity: It is on occasion indispensable, but it is dangerous and should not be displayed openly. It is truth that gives life its grandeur, but the polite fictions that make it bearable.

Throughout our long and sorry history it has been men who supposed themselves to be exemplars of integrity who have done all the damage. Every crusade, whether for decent literary standards or to cover women’s bodies or to free the holy land, had been launched, endorsed, and enthusiastically perpetrated by men of character.

The cultures we can look at had already grasped the essential unity of nature. No board of gods can survive that knowledge.