Friday Quotations: A SINCERE Apology

Dear Readers,

I think we've all come to realize that I make promises that I don't always keep. Promised post subjects never appear. New features are never unveiled. Deadlines are missed, spelling is sloppy, etc, etc. And, in general, I have made my peace with that. But there is one thing I can't allow myself to get away with any longer. For two weeks now--TWO!--I have missed the most beloved of all my repeat elements, the Friday Quotation. You deserve better. We all do.

I will give no excuses, and ask no forgiveness. I will merely present to you this Friday's Quotation:

"I have told this to few people, gentlemen, and I suspect I never will again, but one day when I was a young boy on holiday in Uberwald I was walking along the bank of a stream when I saw a mother otter with her cubs. A very endearing sight, I'm sure you will agree, and even as I watched, the mother otter dived into the water and came up with a plump salmon, which she subdued and dragged onto a half-submerged log. As she ate it, while of course it was still alive, the body split and I remember to this day the sweet pinkness of its roes as they split spilled out, much to the delight of the baby otters who scrambled to feed on the delicacy. One of nature's wonders, gentlemen: mother and children dining upon mother and children. And that's when I first learned about evil. It is built into the very nature of the universe. Every world spins in pain. If there is any kind of supreme being, I told myself, it is up to all of us to become his moral superior."
--Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals

This quotation is said by Pratchett's Lord Vetinari character. I've heard it argue that the character is a mouthpiece for Pratchett's own views, and on this case, I'd have to agree. It's a very Nation way of approaching morality and divinity.

Next week: Something from Dashiell Hammett. Hint: it's not going to be this cheery.

Later Days.