It seemed that she had not so much misjudged the woman as assigned her to completely the wrong species. - Alastair Reynolds

But you know what? I don’t care If transferring your anger onto me helps you, go ahead. I was the billionaire CEO of a global company. I was doing something wrong if I didn’t wake up with a million knives in my back.

I know what you're feeling," Meroka said. "You're thinking, this was my little adventure, it was all revolving around me. And now it's not. You're just a detail, swept up in the stuff she's making happen. Welcome to the way most of us spend our lives feeling, Cutter. We're just turds swirling our way down the pipe.

All her concerns, all her fears, began to feel trifling. It was just a trick of perspective, really, seeing things as they truly were.