a man can break God's laws and be forgiven. That's what they teach us. But when he breaks Nature's laws, there's no forgiveness - and there's no escape. Sooner or later he pays the penalty, or his children pay it - or his children's children. It doesn't matter much. It must be paid.

A sickness ... defines margins, crystallizes the shape of things.

The snow again. White, white net of beauty, net of dream, trapping the earth, trapping the helpless heart of life.

Time passed so much more slowly than space.

Religion is passionate, reckless, destructive, idol-smashing. It's a martyr burning at the stake. It's a crown of thorns and a cross.

A false vision was better than none.

it was a sly trick of God's to give a man work to do - it kept him from asking questions that God couldn't answer.