For a long time the Baldwynn did not speak. At last he said, “Will you serve the Goddess now? Knowingly and lovingly, in sweet obedience and humble a… - Michael Swanwick

The problem was that when all you're trying to do is survive, the universe seems a cold and hostile place. We needed a purpose. To distract us from our awareness of being a single spark of human warmth in an infinite expanse of silence. One small candle in the infinite night of being."
"Do you really think science is purpose enough?"
"Yes, I do. I always have. Maybe it's because I was a lonely kid, and there were times that learning things was all that kept me going. The search for truth is not an unworthy reason to keep going."
"You make it sound so arbitrary."
"Maybe it is. Yet I persist in believing that knowledge is better than ignorance.

Out of doors on a moonless night?" Mette sneered. "Only fools, footpads, and astrologers stray where there is no light.

A magician does not send messages, you know—he orchestrates reality.