"Humans are molded by evolution to be short-termists, Miss Next," he continued. His voice rumbled deeply and seemed to echo inside my head. "We need … - Jasper Fforde

"It's highly disorderly," he explained, "not like here. There is no easily definable plot, and you can run yourself ragged wondering what the significance can be of a chance encounter. You'll also find that for the most part there is no shorthand to the narrative, so everything happens in a long and painfully drawn out sequence. Apparently the talk can be confusing—for the most part, people just say the first thing that comes into their heads."
"Is it as bad as they say it is?"
"I've heard it's worse. Here in the BookWorld, we say what needs to be said for the story to proceed. Out there? Well, you can discount at least eighty percent of chat as just meaningless drivel."
"I never thought the percentage was that high."
"In some individuals it can be as high as ninety-two percent. The people to listen to are the ones who don't say very much."

I don’t think God has any more idea than you or I about what’s going on.

"Dead," muttered Mycroft with a resigned air. "Never been that before. Not even once. Are you quite sure?"