I would appreciate it if just this once you would make the effort to curb your negativism." "I have to say what I think. That's what I'm being paid f… - Michael Swanwick

Okay, so we broke the rules. That's good! There are no more rules—they're broken. Anything is possible now. We'll find a solution. There has to be a solution. There always is."
"Not in my experience." They were, he realized, standing on opposite sides of the great divide that separates those who deal with scientific fact and those who deal with the consequences of human actions. Which is to say, those who believe in a rational universe and those who know that, given the existence of human beings, there is no such thing. "You and I belong to entirely different universes, did you know that?

We did it the way we did it because according to the records, that’s the way we did it. The rules against paradox bind us as tightly as they do you.

People will believe in just about any kind of superstitious crap nowadays.