Animals can adapt to problems and make inventions, but often no faster than natural selection can do its work - the world acts as its own simulator in the case of natural selection.

One of his greatest talents was empathy; no sadist can aspire to perfection without that diagnostic ability.

How to explain? How to describe? Even the omniscient viewpoint quails.

The voice was gentle, like a scalpel petting the short hairs of your throat.

Peregrine Wickwrackscar was flying. A pilgrim with legends that went back almost a thousand years-and not one of them could come near to this!

Effective translation of natural languages comes awfully close to requiring a sentient translator program.

Well, what do you know," Pham said. "Butterflies in jackboots.