James K. Morrow quotes

There are no atheists in foxholes" isn't an argument against atheism, it's an argument against foxholes. (James K. Morrow)
Naturally you expect the moral thing from me. But I've learned something, friend. Morals don't count for a hell of a lot in this galaxy. I rank them somewhere between straight teeth and the ability to carry a tune. View quote
James K. Morrow
Talo, it would appear that our sons are growing up.” She tut-tutted in mock solemnity. "And we always said, ‘It can't happen here.' View quote
James K. Morrow
Is there anything quite so ludicrous as two intellectuals grappling in a philosophy-department parking lot? Each of us wanted to pummel the other to a pulp, but neither knew how to go about it. View quote
James K. Morrow
Another boyfriend?” "A character in one of my plays. Runkleberg's my twentieth-century Abraham. One fine morning he's out watering his roses, and he hears God's voice telling him to sacrifice his son.” "Does he obey?” "His wife intervenes.” "How?” "She castrates him with his hedge clippers, and he bleeds to death. View quote
James K. Morrow
That was a very pretty speech,” said Loloc, "but if it contained an answer to even one of my questions then I did not hear it. View quote
James K. Morrow
Someday that man will be astonished to discover there's a whole world marching along outside his buzzing head. View quote
James K. Morrow
There's no objective evidence for an afterlife, and anecdotal reports of heaven cannot be distinguished from wishful thinking, self-delusion, and the effects of oxygen loss on the brain. View quote
James K. Morrow
People are always asking, does God exist? Of course she does. The real question: what is she like? View quote
James K. Morrow
A second slash ended the monster's misery. So, he thought, this is how my Earthling ancestors ran their affairs. This is how lands were won, empires expanded, insurrections resisted, prisoners taken, slaves kept, heretics converted, captives made loquacious. For the first time in his life, Minnix felt himself a part of history. History, he decided, was a terrible idea. View quote
James K. Morrow
Your disciples will expect something even grander from you. They'll want you to become a deity.” She snickered and said, "I'm not ruling out that possibility.” "What sort of deity? A hamadryad? Plato's demiurge? The Creator God of Judeo-Christian revelation?” "That job's already taken,” she said. "But you could do it better,” I said. "When it comes to the physics, no, but in other areas-you're right. (James K. Morrow)
What really got under Londa's skin, I soon learned, was not the Messiah's sermon per se but the discontinuity between its sublime directives and the ignominious course of Western history, a spectacle that, the more we thought about it, increasingly struck Londa and me as largely a fancy-dress danse macabre, Titus Andronicus on a hemispheric and ultimately global scale, though I hastened to point out that the chronicles of other civilizations were likewise awash in blood. What had gone wrong? She wanted to know. When and why had the teachings of Jesus Christ become an optional component of Christianity? View quote
James K. Morrow
Then there is the final possibility, my favorite. -Yes? -The final possibility is that I'm God. -You're God? -Just a theory, but the data are provocative. I mean, look at me. Faceless, shapeless, holey, undifferentiated, Jewish, inscrutable...and a hermaphrodite to boot. Years ago, I told you sponges cannot be fatally dismembered, for each part quickly becomes the whole. To wit, I am both immortal and infinite. -You're God? You're God herself? You? -The data are provocative. -God is a sponge? A sponge? There's not much comfort in that. -Agreed. -Sponges can't help us. -Neither can God, as far as I can tell. I'd be happy to see some contrary data. View quote
James K. Morrow
Nature may not be benign, but she is reliable. View quote
James K. Morrow
Forgive me if I'm confusing you with logic. View quote
James K. Morrow
A golden age, Londa calls it. She hopes it will return.” "Golden ages rarely return,” I said "especially if they never existed. View quote
James K. Morrow
I shall never cease to marvel at the clarity of stars when viewed from midocean, each as sharp and bright as the laser pointer God uses when lecturing the angels on evolution. View quote
James K. Morrow
Like all good friends, they hated seeing their relationship lose its emotional innocence, its chastity of good will, and now that the thing was lost, now that searing statements had changed hands and left scars, neither looked forward to the future. View quote
James K. Morrow
Every religion says war is evil, but one way or another they end up playing along. View quote
James K. Morrow
What enormous potential for intermittent happiness the world offered. View quote
James K. Morrow
People found ever more ingenious ways to hate each other. (James K. Morrow)
What most people don't realize is that something unprecedented has entered the world. Bang-science-and suddenly a proposition is true because it's true, Julie, not because its adherents have the biggest churches or the grandest inquisitors or the most weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. View quote
James K. Morrow
It was the most portentous mission since Saul of Tarsus has suffered an epileptic seizure and called it Christianity. View quote
James K. Morrow
I've gone insane, Michael decided, retrieving a cowhide-bound appointments book from his valise. Only certifiable schizophrenics showed meetings with God on their calendars. View quote
James K. Morrow
As with the rest of Phoebe's species, Julie must not let her become dependent upon supernatural solutions, trading one addiction for another. View quote
James K. Morrow