“ The ocean is a Turing machine, the sand is its tape; the water reads the marks in the sand and sometimes erases them and sometimes carves new ones with tiny currents that are themselves a response to… Neal Stephenson
“ Most of the people on the Cloud Ark were going to have to be women.There were other reasons for it besides just making more babies. Research on the long-term effects of spaceflight suggested that wome… Neal Stephenson
“ Men believe that they are accomplishing something by speaking speak in a different way from men who believe that speaking is a waste of time. Bobby Shaftoe learned most of his practical knowledge – ho… Neal Stephenson
“ Ever think of introducing yourself? Y.T. says.Nah, he says, people always forget names. You can just think of me as that one guy, y'know? Neal Stephenson
“ Persons of quality had devoted yester evening and much of the night to liquidating their holdings in the South Sea Company and gathering in clubs and coffeehouses to misinform one another. Neal Stephenson
“ She's a woman, you're a dude. You're not to understand her. That's what she's after.... She doesn't want you to understand . She knows impossible. She just wants you to understand . Everything else… Neal Stephenson
“ It's--my God--like you stretched a tarp across a stadium to turn it into a giant tom-tom and crashed a 747 into it. Neal Stephenson
“ There's a little rack along the front of the counter bearing religious tracts, free for the taking, donation requested. Several slots on the rack are occupied by the Reverend Wayne's famous bestseller… Neal Stephenson
“ Hackworth took a bite of his sandwich, correctly anticipating that the meat would be gristly and that he would have plenty of time to think about his situation while his molars subdued it. He did have… Neal Stephenson
“ That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking, what's your vice and what brand of trouble does it lead to? Neal Stephenson
“ As to Constantinople. That jewel in the crown of the Byzantine Empire. That continent-straddling stronghold of the Eastern Orthodox Church. That famously inviolable walled city ruled by generations of… Neal Stephenson
“ Right, by tomorrow morning everyone will have congregated in Le Havre and you can all pile in the car and come back out here together, said Tristan in a rapid monotone, as if needing to rationalize be… Neal Stephenson
“ Never been here before. It's like something on the top floor of a luxury high-rise casino in Atlantic City, where they put semi-retarded adults from South Philly after they've blundered into the mega… Neal Stephenson
“ Most of Csongor's time in T'Rain had been spent blundering about in a state of hapless newbie confusion. Only his long experience as a system administrator, struggling with Byzantine software installa… Neal Stephenson
