Death's End

Text in black are quotes; text in green are my notes. I sometimes write in Spanish.

• Do you think cigarettes and liquor really taste that good? Even Coca-Cola probably tasted medicinal the first time you tried it. Anything addictive is like that. #

• So, let me tell you, when humans are lost in space, it takes only five minutes to reach totalitarianism. #

• Similarly, when humans truly enter space and are freed from the Earth, they cease to be human. So, to all of you I say this: When you think about heading into outer space without looking back, please reconsider. The cost you must pay is far greater than you could imagine. #

• In this game of building blocks, the probability of producing such a self-replicating chain of organic molecules was so minuscule that it was as if a tornado had picked up a pile of metallic trash and deposited it as a fully-assembled Mercedes-Benz. #

• Death is the only lighthouse that is always lit. No matter where you sail, ultimately, you must turn toward it. Everything fades in the world, but Death endures.” #

• The child that was human civilization had opened the door to her home and glanced outside. The endless night terrified her so much that she shuddered against the expansive and profound darkness, and shut the door firmly. #

• In the cosmos, no matter how fast you are, someone will be faster; no matter how slow you are, someone will be slower. #

• Weakness and ignorance are not barriers to survival, but arrogance is. #

• “Anyone from the Earth has a kind of nostalgia for soil. Remember what Scarlett’s father told her in Gone With the Wind? ‘Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.’” #

• The ultimate fate of all intelligent beings has always been to become as grand as their thoughts. #