Neal Stephenson Quote

Thinking is what angels do—it is a property given to Man by God. How do you suppose God gives it to us? I do not pretend to know, sir! If you take a man’s brain and distill him, can you extract a mysterious essence—the divine presence of God on Earth? That is called the Philosophick Mercury by Alchemists. Or, if Hooke were to peer into a man’s brain with a good enough microscope, would he see tiny meshings of gears? Daniel said nothing. Leibniz had imploded his skull. The gears were jammed, the Philosophick Mercury dribbling out his ear-holes.

Neal Stephenson

Thinking is what angels do—it is a property given to Man by God. How do you suppose God gives it to us? I do not pretend to know, sir! If you take a man’s brain and distill him, can you extract a mysterious essence—the divine presence of God on Earth? That is called the Philosophick Mercury by Alchemists. Or, if Hooke were to peer into a man’s brain with a good enough microscope, would he see tiny meshings of gears? Daniel said nothing. Leibniz had imploded his skull. The gears were jammed, the Philosophick Mercury dribbling out his ear-holes.

Related Quotes