The advanced societies of the future will not be governed by reason. They will be driven by irrationality, by competing systems of psychopathology. - J. G. Ballard

Massive cerebral damage and abdominal bleeding in automobile accidents could be imitated within half an hour, aided by the application of suitable coloured resins. Convincing radiation burns required careful preparation, and might involve some three to four hours of makeup. Death, by contrast, was a matter of lying prone.

Selfish men make the best lovers. They're prepared to invest in the women's pleasures so that they can collect an even bigger dividend for themselves.

In the future, violence would clearly become a valuable form of social cement.