“In 5-billion years the Sun will expand & engulf our orbit as the charred ember that was once Earth vaporizes. Have a nice day.”

“Mr. Codro’s destiny is Ptolemaic; in other words, based on fiction. Ptolemaic says it all; it means above all fixed and unchanging, that is to say different from real life which is by nature changing and temporary. It means: not according to natural truth, but according to man’s desire and the pretense inspired by his fear of dying and his desire for permanence.”

“What am I to do?What is my destiny?I have no idea, not a clueFeeling lost and empty.What is my dream?What is my future?I beg thee to listen to me,I beg thee to answer.”

“As soon as someone dies, frenzied construction of the future (shifting furniture, etc.): futuromania.”

“The new world is as yetbehind the veil of destinyIn my eyes, howeverits dawn has been unveiled”

“The future says:Dear mortals;I know you are busy with your colourful lives;I have no wish to waste the little time that remainsOn arguments and heated debates;But before I can appearPlease, close your eyes, sit stillAnd listen carefullyTo what I am about to say;I haven’t happened yet, but I will.I can’t pretend it’s going to beBusiness as usual.Things are going to change.I’m going to be unrecognisable.Please, don’t open your eyes, not yet.I’m not trying to frighten you.All I ask is that you think of meNot as a wish or a nightmare, but as a storyYou have to tell yourselves -Not with an endingIn which everyone lives happily ever after,Or a B-movie apocalypse,But maybe starting with the line’To be continued…’And see what happens next.Remember this; I am notWritten in stoneBut in time – So please don’t shrug and sayWhat can we do?It’s too late, etc, etc, etc.Dear mortals,You are such strange creaturesWith your greed and your kindness,And your hearts like broken toys;You carry fear with you everywhereLike a tiny godIn its box of shadows.You love festivals and musicAnd good food.You lie to yourselvesBecause you’re afraid of the dark.But the truth is: you are in my handsAnd I am in yours.We are in this together,Face to face and eye to eye;We’re made for each other.Now those of you who are still here;Open your eyes and tell me what you see.”

“Presentiment is that long shadow on the lawnIndicative that suns go down;The notice to the startled grassThat darkness is about to pass.”

“I ask, ‘Is the cup half-empty or half-full?’ And when I ask that question, I am amazed at how many people have no cup.”

“Wise is the one who flavors the future with some salt from the past. Becoming dust is no threat to the phoenix born from the ash.”

“One beautiful smile can always be a good reason for our day to start with great hope for a better future”

“If, years later, I do use the slit detector to observe which way the electron went, it will mean that many years earlier the electron must have passed through one slit or the other. But if I don’t use the “slit detector,” then the electron must have passed through both slits. This is, of course, extremely weird. My actions at the beginning of the twenty-first century can change what happened thousands of years ago when the electron began its journey. It seems that just as there are multiple futures, there are also multiple pasts, and my acts of observation in the present can decide what happened in the past. As much as it challenges any hope of ever really knowing the future, quantum physics asks whether I can ever really know the past. It seems that the past is also in a superposition of possibilities that crystallize only once they are observed.”

“We weren’t happy together but we lived in a state of easy, mild contentment. We shared everything except the stupid fucking secret hanging round your neck. I imagined tiny photographs: portraits in sepia of your parents, their faces partially obscured by goitres. Meanwhile, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next year, maybe not even in a decade from now but one day: the planet would fall apart.”

“She shot out of her seat, tired of waiting, at last ready to create her future.”

“I don’t think anybody ever really knows what’s going to happen,” he said. “We’re all just out here hoping for the best.”

“Education is the realization of hope for the future.”