25 March 2018
The Dark Forest
The Dark Forest
Remembrance of Earth's Past #2
Cixin Liu

Highlights

The void was filled. The universe had sight. The stars were tiny, just single twinkling points of silver that hinted at some unease on the part of its creator. The cosmic sculptor had felt compelled to dot pupils onto the universe, yet had a tremendous terror of granting it sight. This balance of fear and desire resulted in the tininess of the stars agains the hugeness of space, a declaration of caution above all.
. . .
Without the fear of heights, there can be no appreciation for the beauty of high places.
. . .
I'm that sort of person too. It's really annoying to see certain things about yourself in other people.
. . .
It's a question of surival, and no matter who gets to leave - elites, the rich, or ordinary people - so long as some people get left behind, it means the collapse of humanity's fundamental value system and ethical bottom line. Human rights and equality have deep roots. Inequality of survival is the worst sort of inequality, and the people and countries left behind will never just sit and wait for death while others have a way out. There will be increasingly extreme confrontations between the two sides until there's world chaos, and then no one goes!
. . .
I remember when I finished grad school and joined the fleet as a cadet lieutenant, you told me, "Beihai, you've got a long way to go. I say that because I can still easily understand you, and being understandable to me means that your mind is still too simple, not subtle enough. On the day I can no longer read you or figure you out, but you can easily understand me, that's when you'll finally have grown up." And then I grew up like you said, and you could no longer so easily understand your son. I know you must have felt at least some sorrow at that.
. . .
Annihilation. That's the highest respect a civilization can receive. They would only feel threatened by a civilization they truly respect.
. . .
Emancipation of human nature inevitably brings with it scientific and technological progress.
. . .
Nostalgia for a home like that was limited.
. . .
Darkness was the mother of life and of civilization.