Manhattan was a no-man's land, empty, an unofficial demilitarized zone between Partials and the human survivors. No one was supposed to be here, not because it was forbidden but because it was dangerous. If something happened to you out here, either side could get you, and neither side could protect you.

Freedom is a responsibility to be earned, not a license for recklessness and anarchy. If someday, despite our strongest efforts and our deepest determination, we finally fall, let it be because our enemies finally beat us, not because we beat ourselves.

It's like . . . time is flowing backward. We're caveman archeologists in the ruins of the future.

Happiness is the most natural thing in the world when you have it, and the slowest, strangest, most impossible thing when you don't. It's like learning a foreign language: You can think about the words all you want, but you'll never be able to speak it until you suck up your courage and say them out loud.

Mother of mercy,"said Tovar."And that caused the riot?" "It's the other way around,"said Kira sheepishly."We started the riot as a distraction for the jaibreak." Tovar whistled."You don't mess aroud." P303

There are some things more important than ourselves - more important than the limits of the present, and the whims of the now. There is a future to build and protect. And if we're going to make that future as reality, we have to stop fighting among ourselves. We have to end dissent whenever we find it. We have to trust one another again.

Happiness is the most natural thing in the world when you have it, and the slowest, strangest, most impossible thing when you don't.