“ A Kourier has to establish space on the pavement. Predictable law-abiding behavior lulls drivers. They mentally assign you to a little box in the lane, assume you will stay there, can't handle it when… Neal Stephenson
“ The insects here see you as a big slab of animated but not very well defended food. The ability to move, far from being a deterrent, serves as an unforgeable guarantee of freshness. Neal Stephenson
“ You should not believe a thing only because you like to believe it. We call that 'Diax's Rake' ... Neal Stephenson
“ . . if money is a science, then it is a dark science, darker than alchemy. It split away from Natural Philosophy millennia ago, and has gone on developing ever since, by its own rules. Neal Stephenson
“ They have commandos and astronauts who know this kind of thing cold. But Raz, you are educable, you can learn ‘this kind of thing,’ if by that you mean how to maneuver an S2-35B and how to assemble a… Neal Stephenson
“ The ambiguous conversation with the unseen serving-wench, the bags of hot-grease-scented food hurtling in through the window, condiments in packets, attempting to eat while lurching down a highway, vo… Neal Stephenson
“ Snow n... 2.a. Anything resembling snow. b. The white specks on a televisionscreen resulting from weak reception.crash v... -infr.. . . 5, To fail suddenly, as a business or an economy. -The American… Neal Stephenson
“ In the group, as the knights preferred stallions—and knelt in the sun-dappled mud and grass of a narrow meadow. Raphael and Percival joined her, kneeling on the other side of the run, two steps back.… Neal Stephenson
“ Given all the other changes he’s gone through, why the hell shouldn’t he become a cigarette smoker while he’s at it? Maybe next week he’ll be shooting heroin. For something disgusting and lethal, ciga… Neal Stephenson
“ But if you have studied that, everything since will seem like repetition and all the particulars as to how the Sæcular Power of my day was organized will remind you of more or less ancient forerunners… Neal Stephenson
“ Amística, un término acuñado hacía eones por un antropólogo moirano para referirse a las elecciones que hacían las diferentes culturas en cuanto a qué tecnologías formarían parte de su vida y cuáles n… Neal Stephenson
“ A fucking rat race that is. CosaNostra Pizza doesn't have any competition. Competition goes against the Mafia ethic. You don't work harder because you're competing against some identical operation dow… Neal Stephenson
“ Young, lavishly bearded tech entrepreneurs were trudging forlornly down the hallways, laden with computers, printers, high-end coffeemakers, and foosball tables. Like digital Okies they loaded their s… Neal Stephenson
“ You may have envisioned half a dozen potential markets for your product, but as soon as you open your doors, one just explodes from the pack and becomes so instantly important that good business sense… Neal Stephenson
“ You have responsibilities now, Bob. You must lose this naïve understanding of violence! You are embarrassin’ me in front of the lads! You can’t play by their rules or they’ll win unfailingly! You don’… Neal Stephenson
“ Yes. It’s really only since wireless networks got fast enough to stream pictures to portable devices that everything changed, Enoch said, and enabled each individual person to live twenty-four/ seven… Neal Stephenson
“ With reference to viral infections, the Librarian says, if I may make a fairly blunt, spontaneous cross-reference—something I am coded to do at opportune moments—you may wish to examine herpes simplex… Neal Stephenson
“ With any job, there’s some creative work that needs to be done—new technology to be developed or whatever. Everything else—ninety-nine percent of it—is making deals, raising capital, going to meetings… Neal Stephenson
“ Why, exactly, is Marduk handing Hammurabi a one and a zero in this picture?Hiro asks.They were emblems of royal power, the Librarian says. Their origin isobscure.Enki must have been responsible for th… Neal Stephenson
“ Why couldn’t I fill my hard drive with random bytes, so that individual files would not be discernible? Their very existence would be hidden in the noise, like a striped tiger in tall grass. And we co… Neal Stephenson
