The use of pesticides had seemed to Ye just a normal, proper — or, at least, neutral — act, but Carson’s book allowed Ye to see that, from Nature’s p… - Liu Cixin

If this was so, then how many other acts of humankind that had seemed normal or even righteous were, in reality, evil?

Of all the unexpected things that might interrupt Chinese science fiction’s development, social unrest has to be the most worrying. I once told readers at a conference that science fiction is the product of leisurely and carefree minds. No one agreed, but I was telling the truth. Only when our lives are stable and quiet can we allow the universe’s catastrophes to fascinate and awe us. If we already live in an environment full of danger, then science fiction won’t interest us. In fact, two of the last three bursts of creative progress that Chinese science fiction underwent were cut short by social unrest, which is lethal to the genre.

Earth was treated as a knowledge battery: After it was charged fully with Trisolaran knowledge, it would provide more power.

Quantitative change eventually gives way to qualitative change.