John M. Anglin

• Ah, but you can halve your cake and eat it two.

• Although no literary genre is spared from greatness or mediocrity, how strange that fantasy and science fiction should be generally derided for their lack of realism. What better exploration of "human" behaviour can there be than against a backdrop unfettered by our mundane reality? That any of yesterday's fiction has become today's fact should be sufficient validation. It is the retelling of history and anticipation of the improbable that engenders understanding of our past and prepares us for the future.

• As a general rule, there are exceptions to every rule. Of course, this implies at least one rule exists to which there are no exceptions, but this is nearly impossible to prove and must be ignored in practice.

• Communication is meaningless without the assumption of semantic intention; thus, regardless of whether you actually say what you mean, the reverse must be taken for granted.

• Even memory exhibits strength in numbers; facts unfortified in context will fade without relentless repetition.

• History repeats itself not just because we forget but because we keep rewriting it so know one will notice.

• If small things amuse small minds, just think what the big things will do.

• I lost a lot of faith in dictionaries when I learned the effect of copyright laws on published word definitions.

• Most people miss the point when discussing the value of memorizing trivia. The trained ability to store and later retrieve isolated bits of information largely devoid of interest is worth far more than the memory content itself.

• No one would choose the series of experiences that have cumulatively defined them. We are who we are because of the good times and the bad, not in spite of them.

• Paths overgrown with disuse become impassible but well-worn roads are easily travelled. Choose wisely then the memories you recall and how often.

• Perfectionism is like paranoia ... it always seems like entropy is out to get you.

• The concept of perfection for most people denotes systemic order or simplicity in absolute stasis. It is this thinking that makes offices and hospitals bleak. Aesthetic perfection is attained not through the elimination of disorder, but rather in spite of its incorporation; that ever-changing fascination of a little bit of chaos makes all the difference in the world. Perfection, then, is the semblance of order amongst chaos.

• The proponents of eugenics forget that species survival depends upon adaptability, which is derived as much from gene pool diversity as any ad hoc genetic "superiority".

• There is no such thing as cold, only varying degrees of heat . Happiness likewise may only appreciated by the lack thereof.

• What if we all had the infinite power of gods, limited only by the constraints of backwards-compatibility and unanimity? Prove we don't.