In this world, time has three dimensions, like space. Just as an object may move in three perpendicular directions, corresponding to horizontal, vertical, and longitudinal, so an object may participate in three perpendicular futures. Each future moves in a different direction of time. Each future is real. At every point of decision, the world splits into three worlds, each with the same people, but different fates for those people. In time, there are an infinity of worlds.
Alan LightmanTime is a rigid, bonelike structure, extending infinitely ahead and behind, fossilizing the future as well as the past.
Alan LightmanIt's the Platonic philosophy in The Republic that philosophers should lead the country.
Alan LightmanIn a world in which time is a circle, every handshake, every kiss, every birth, every word, will be repeated precisely.
Alan LightmanFaith is the ability to honor stillness at some moments, and at others to ride the passion and exuberance.
Alan LightmanSuch is the cost of immortality. No person is whole. No person is free. Over time, some have determined that the only way to live is to die. In death, a man or a woman is free of the weight of the past [and the future].
Alan LightmanIn this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time." "They do not keep clocks in their houses. Instead, they listen to their heartbeats. They feel the rhythms of their moods and desires." "Then there are those who think their bodies don't exist. They live by mechanical time. They rise at seven o'clock in the morning. They eat their lunch at noon and their supper at six. They arrive at their appointments on time, precisely by the clock.
Alan Lightman