“ The suit's got a cervical airbag that blows up when you fall off the board, so you can bounce on your head. Besides, helmets feel weird. They say it doesn't affect your hearing, but it does. Neal Stephenson
“ The problem of distributing bathroom tissue to workers presents inherent challenges for any office management system due to the inherent unpredictability of usage—not every facility usage transaction… Neal Stephenson
“ The place was famous for always having ‘six comely maidens’ working there, I said, with air quotes, ‘serving the customers ale and aught.’ What’s aught? asked Tristan. Whatever you want it to be, I sa… Neal Stephenson
“ The people who know the most are not allowed to ask questions—or even to make suggestions. The least common denominator sets the standards. Just wait until you see Washington, Betsy—these goddamn car… Neal Stephenson
“ The only reason no one ever did it with humans is because it seemed ethically dodgy, as well as completely unnecessary given the willingness of men to impregnate women every chance they got. Neal Stephenson
“ The old neighborhoods of Shanghai, Feedless or with overhead Feeds kludged in on bamboo stilts, seemed frighteningly inert, like an opium addict squatting in the middle of a frenetic downtown street,… Neal Stephenson
“ The mystic nails a symbol to one meaning that was true for a moment but soon becomes false. The poet, on the other hand, sees that truth while it’s true but understands that symbols are always in flux… Neal Stephenson
“ The moon had broken up into seven large pieces, which inevitably became known as the Seven Sisters, and an uncountable number of smaller ones. Gradually the big ones acquired names. Doc Dubois was res… Neal Stephenson
“ The modern world’s hell on haiku writers: Electrical generator is, what, eight syllables? You couldn’t even fit that onto the second line! Neal Stephenson
“ The implied responsibility placed upon the officer’s shoulders by the subordinate’s unhesitating willingness to follow orders is a withering burden to any officer with half a brain, and Shaftoe has mo… Neal Stephenson
“ The hasty shake-and-bake nature of the Ymir expedition, which had stirred up so much controversy, had been forced by the implacable timeline of celestial mechanics. Time, tide, and comets waited for n… Neal Stephenson
“ The difference between stupid and intelligent people-and this is true whether or not they are well-educated-is that intelligent people can handle subtlety. They are not baffled by ambiguous or even co… Neal Stephenson
“ The damn bells kept ringing through the fog. Bud mumbled a command to his music system, a phased acoustical array splayed across both eardrums like the seeds on a strawberry. The volume went up but co… Neal Stephenson
“ The cat, morbidly obese from eating virtually all of Isaac’s meals, fell off the table like a four-legged haggis, and trudged away. Neal Stephenson
“ The West-march of the Walmart Held all the food in the world, Bottled beer by the boatload, Frost-kept food, milk and meat. Setting up for a siege behind barricades The Norsemen fetched food, collecte… Neal Stephenson
“ The Sumerians wrote on everything.When they built a building, they would write in cuneiform on every brick. Whenthe buildings fell down, these bricks would remain, scattered across the desert.In the K… Neal Stephenson
“ That time in Seattle—during the lawsuit—was a fucking nightmare. I came out of it dead broke, without a house, without anything except a girlfriend and a knowledge of UNIX. Well, that’s something, Avi… Neal Stephenson
“ Some of these Marines learned what they know on Guadalcanal, a basically useless island in the Southwest Pacific where the Empire of Nippon and the United States of America are disputing—with rifles—e… Neal Stephenson
“ So far I have felt like a very inept slapstick performer. Inept slapstick? Isn't that a bit redundant? Neal Stephenson
