1. “Being scared is nothing,” the old woman said. “Being bored, or ignorant—now that’s a crime.” - Greg Bear

The future seemed not just dangerous, not just bleak; it seemed incomprehensible.

The Republic, despite the best efforts of the surviving government, was quickly being replaced by something worse than anarchy—passionate mob rule, directed by untutored but skilled opportunists.

2. “We must know our enemy, at least a little.”
“That’s dangerous,” Prufrax said, almost instinctively.
“Yes, it is. What you know, you cannot hate.”