Words from a favorite passage of a favorite novel came to mind today. In the midst of a modern, slangy conversation about a dangerous situation and what to do, the tone changes:
"Jedson said suddenly, 'White prevails over black.' She answered, 'Certainly.'
'Everywhere?' 'Everywhere, since darkness is the absence of light.'
He went on, 'It is not good for the white to wait on the black. It is not good. With my brother Royce to help, we might carry light into darkness.'
She considered this. 'It is possible, yes. But very dangerous.'
'You have been there?'
'On occasion. But you are not I, nor are these others.'
Everyone seemed to be following the thread of the conversation but me. I interrupted with, 'Just a minute, please. Would it be too much to explain what you are talking about?'"
An eerily beautiful passage from Heinlein's Magic, Inc. – I've always thought it was a shame he didn't write more like that one. Wonderful, not only because of the abrupt change in style to something hieratic – which reflects the oblique backgrounds of the speakers – but because of its calmly indomitable moral implications....
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