Okay, so this one's not actually from a book

"The technology is not responsible for our woes -- it is neither good nor bad. Mississippi state legislator Noah Sweat's famous 1952 'if when you say whiskey' speech comes to mind: 'If when you say whiskey you mean the devil's brew, the poison scourge...that defiles innocence, dethrones reason...if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, and despair, and shame and helplessness, and hopelessness, then certainly I am against it. But, if you when you say whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine...if you mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a little while, life's great tragedies...if you mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirm; to build highways and hospitals and schools, then certainly I am for it.'

If by automation you mean the soulless fiend that takes jobs away from earnest hard-working Americans, the myopic mechanical monster that robs us of the opportunity to use our hands and our minds in the service of exercising agency in the world; if you mean that collection of integrated circuits that amorally moves electrons from one chip to another without regard for the hopes and dreams and lives it may be crushing in the process, then certainly I am against it.

But if when you say automation you mean the time-saving device that allows a loving couple to spend more time together while the dishes and clothes are restored to their store-bought new condition; if you mean the intelligent, vigilant and benevolent robots that prevent the brakes on our cars from locking in the ice, causing an irreversible skid and resultant loss of life or limb; if you mean the marvelous multi-national manufacturing machines that make the drugs that a child with leukemia needs in order to live a healthy, full and productive life, then certainly I am for it."

(Daniel J. Levitin, "Learning to Roomba", in The Wall Street Journal, October 11-12, 2014, p. C7)

Smilla's Sense of Snow; final group of quotes

"A breakdown doesn't necessarily have to be a collapse; it can also take the form of a quiet slide into resignation."

"I've never liked the dark. I've never understood the Danish penchant for wandering around at night. Taking a stroll in pitch darkness. Nightingale walks in the woods. Insisting on gazing at the stars. Nighttime orienteering.

You have to respect the dark. Night is the time when space simmers with evil and peril. You can call it superstitious. You can call it fear of the dark. But it's ridiculous to pretend that the night is just like the day, simply without light. Night is the time to huddle together indoors."

"He is the quintessential Dane, with his fear, his iron resolve to repress what's happening around him. And his indomitable optimism."

(Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense of Snow)

Don't get mad at me, the author is Danish

"I've always been fascinated by the melancholy shamelessness with which Danes accept the enormous gap between their common sense and their actions."

(Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense of Snow)

First impressions

"It's difficult to judge his age. From Elsa Lubing I know that he must be over seventy. But he looks healthy and athletic, as if every morning he walks barefoot across his beachfront and down to the sea, where he saws a hole in the ice and takes a refreshing dip, then runs back and eats a little bowl of gladiator muesli with skim milk."

(Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense of Snow)

Ha! I'm not the only one

"I don't like talking on the phone. I want to see whom I'm talking to."

(Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense of Snow)

I'll have a serving of great olive oil, please, with a side dish of humor

"The first thing he did when he got home was attack the salmon. A hefty slice dressed with fresh lemon juice and a special olive oil given him by the person who made it. ('The virginity of this olive oil has been certified by a gynecologist,' said a little ticket that came with it.)"

(Andrea Camilleri, in The Paper Moon)

You're looking good

"He arrived a bit early for his appointment with Marshal Lagana. 'You're looking good,' said the marshal, eyeing him. Montalbano got worried. Often of late that statement didn't sound right to him. If someone tells you you're looking good, it means they were expecting you not to look so good. And why were they thinking that? Because you've reached an age where the worst could happen overnight. To take one example: Up to a certain point in life, if you slip and fall, you get right up, because nothing's happened to you. Then the moment comes when you slip and fall and you can't get up anymore, because you've broken your femur. What's happened? What's happened is you've crossed the invisible boundary between one age of life and the next."

(Andrea Camilleri, in The Paper Moon)