968
The roads are clogged with unlikely travelers.
It must be apple blossom time.
969
It's sad when young men and women die in war.
Will we ever stop going to war?
That's a question worth asking.
970
He said they'll know us by our fruits.
He was talking about the results of our actions.
Life itself is an action.
And death is sometimes the result.
971
The universe is vast and unrelenting.
What makes you say that?
I just wanted to say a sentence with the word universe in it.
972
Blaming the children for the sins of their parents and grandparents seems a little bit on the unfair side.
I tend to agree.
What changed your mind?
What else? I walked and lived among them.
973
Since writing that book on truth, you’ve changed your mind on what is and is not truth.
That’s true.
974
How should we deal with our bitterness?
With restraint.
Won’t that just increase our bitterness?
Curbing our own anger is the only answer, whether or not it heightens our bitterness.
Is it alright to say I don’t like your prescription?
No one ever has liked it.
975
Where do you come from?
I come from above.
Is that a part of objective reality?
That’s a good question.
Well?
You’ll have to visit me there someday. Seeing is believing.
976
It’s funny how things have turned out.
How do you mean?
The world is entirely unpredictable.
And that’s funny?
I can’t stop laughing.
977
What do we most want in life?
Recognition.
It seems like we should want more than just that.
There is one other thing.
And that is?
We don’t leave too big a mess behind when we depart this earthly veil.
978
What separates us?
Is it a lack of a common language?
That’s true, but is it a good thing?
Perhaps the farther apart we are the better.
Does it always have to be that way?
For the foreseeable future, it would seem so.
979
Where does morality come from?
It comes from God.
What makes you think that?
It’s obvious that man didn’t create himself. Why would God create savages?
What about evolution?
Morality is not subject to evolution.
980
Religion succeeds through two ways.
What are they?
One is through power. The other way is through adaptability.
What about perseverance?
That’s just another word for stubbornness.
981
Hard to believe that’s the image of God that just walked by.
If we look in the mirror, are we looking at an image of an image?
982
I told you they played to win.
Now I believe you.
What changed your mind?
The simmering hatred.
983
Nothing but time on our hands.
If that’s the case, what’s the point in starting now?
We could wait for a few thousand years.
Good idea. Rushing things never helps.
984
We’re running out of places to hide.
Even the caves have a ‘no vacancy’ sign in front.
It’s time to start digging a hole.
We’re already in one.
985
Why would you eat from that tree? You knew that doing so would cause us great trouble.
I don’t like being told what to do.
Obviously; so what do you plan to do now?
I like the idea of starting over.
That choice may not be yours to make.
Without choices, there’s no point in living.
986
He is one voice among many.
Isn’t that true of all of us?
But at one time people listened to him.
Not really; they started tuning him out almost immediately.
But they seemed rapt with attention. They were hanging on every word.
Give them a test next time he speaks. See what they remember.
987
What do you see?
I see a moon-filled night and a broken down fence and a hill beyond it. The hill is quite barren.
What lies beyond the hill?
I’ll never know.
988
Weren’t you friends with Hemingway?
Yes.
Did you also run with the bulls?
Yes and I have wounds to prove it.
989
Freud believed that sons wanted to murder their fathers.
Why?
The sons wanted to attain the power and the privileges of their fathers. The only way to do that was to kill them.
How did they feel about their mothers?
Ambiguous.
990
How far do you go back?
As far as possible, but no farther.
991
How hard was it naming all the animals?
Not hard at all; it was my favorite assignment.
Really?
I found if you gave someone a name, he’ll be your friend for life.
992
We shouldn’t be lulled by the apparent calmness.
What should we be lulled by?
993
Your boldness generated much popular approval.
But did it get the job done?
We won’t know until your approval ratings go down.
GO to UNIt LX
