“ They have fled from the true America, the America of atomic bombs, scalpings, hip-hop, chaos theory, cement overshoes, snake handlers, spree killers, space walks, buffalo jumps, drive-bys, cruise miss… Neal Stephenson
“ These Burbclaves! These citystates!So small, so insecure, that just about everything, like not mowing yourlawn, or playing your stereo too loud, becomes a national security issue. Neal Stephenson
“ There was no way that these guys were going to let a bleeding, barefoot woman simply wander off alone into the streets. Two of them were already running toward her with hands reaching out in a manner… Neal Stephenson
“ There is something new: A globe about the size of a grapefruit, a perfectly detailed rendition of Planet Earth, hanging in space at arm's length in front of his eyes. Hiro has heard about this but nev… Neal Stephenson
“ There is a kind of unspoken collusion going on in mainstream science education: you get your competent but bored, insecure and hence stodgy teacher talking to an audience divided between engineering s… Neal Stephenson
“ There followed one of those comical interludes in which the jihadists were confused about what to do next and fell to bitter recriminations. Neal Stephenson
“ Then she felt shock and shame over the fact that she was thinking about coffee while her planet was being set on fire. Neal Stephenson
“ The world is full of power and energy and a person can go far by just skimming off a tiny bit of it. Neal Stephenson
“ The wording does not come naturally in this bastard language of Sabir, but Moseh’s plan was to synergistically leverage the value-added of diverse core competencies into a virtual entity whose whole w… Neal Stephenson
“ The universe was a disorderly mess, the only interesting bits being the organised anomalies. Hackworth had once taken his family out rowing on the pond in the park, and the ends of the yellow oars spu… Neal Stephenson
“ The temptation to cocoon in a microhotel pod on the slab, to eat hot noodles from a cup and watch videos, was strong. Neal Stephenson
“ The streets of Pudong were filled with hungry and terrified refugees, and through them, in simple peasant clothes streaked with the blood of herself and of others, broken shackles dangling from her wr… Neal Stephenson
“ The rule of thumb we’ve been using is that Deolaters are welcome as long as they’re not certain they’re right, I said. As soon as you’re sure you’re right, there’s no point in your being here. Neal Stephenson
“ The roads shed lanes, then insensibly narrowed, grew rougher and more tortuous, until without having noticed any sudden transitions we found ourselves driving on endless one-lane tracks and stopping t… Neal Stephenson
“ The result, a few moments later, was that the glider came snapping over the top just as its connection to the last flynk was severed. In a few seconds it had been hauled two thousand meters straight u… Neal Stephenson
“ The qualifications for being a Scout seemed to be a shocking level of physical endurance, a complete disregard for mortal danger, and some knowledge of how to exist in a space suit. All of them were R… Neal Stephenson
“ The narration had lasted for the better part of an hour despite Markus’s increasingly frequent and obvious glances at his Swiss watch, and left all the others in a strange combination of spellbound, b… Neal Stephenson
“ The metavirus is everywhere. Anywhere life exists, the metavirus is there,too, propagating through it. Originally, it was spread around on comets.That's probably how life first came to the Earth, and… Neal Stephenson
