48 Quotes by Bernard Beckett

In the end, living is defined by dying.

Human spirit is the ability to face the uncertainty of the future with curiosity and optimism. It is the belief that problems can be solved, differences resolved. It is a type of confidence. And it is fragile. It can be blackened by fear, and superstition. By the year 2050, when the conflict began, the world had fallen upon fearful, superstitious times.

Unable to attribute misfortune to chance, unable to accept their ultimate insignificance within the greater scheme, the people looked for monsters in their midst.

... from our vantage point it is now clear that the only thing the population had to fear was fear itself.

But time passes. Fear becomes a memory. Terror becomes routine; it loses its grip.

Which came first, the mind or the idea of the mind? Have you never wondered? They arrived together. The mind is an idea.

Many scholars have complained of our tendency to see history only in conflicts, but I am not convinced they are right. It is in conflict that are values are exposed.

If you kill me, you kill me. Take my life if you must, just don't think you're getting my mind.

What about an amnesiac, who awakes having lost his memories and must learn of his past from scratch? Has he died? How can we be just memories? How does that leave us with enough?