My shorter definition of SF (is) Hubris clobbered by nemesis. - Brian Aldiss

That house, whatever it was, was the embodiment of all the coldness in his mind. Harley said to himself: "Whatever has been done to me, I've been cheated. Someone has robbed me of something so thoroughly I don't even know what it is. It's been a cheat, a cheat.…"

It occurred to him that perhaps all his life he had only been hearing echoes of himself, and that his morality, on which he had once prided himself, was merely a refusal to permit other people into his life.

You see life as a contrast between misery and pleasure, Jon; that is not a correct interpretation." "It's a pretty good rule of thumb, I should have thought." "Thought and non-thought is the only valid line of comparison." "Bit of a bird's-eye view, isn't it? That puts us on the same level as the proles." "Exactly.