»The master looked on with admiration and indulgence as a worker and citizen allowed himself to take pleasure in unprofitable arts. The mistress, however, observed these signs of a worldly art of living with the discerning interest of a connoisseur. Her gaze rested attentively on his long, delicate hands, unmarred by any heavy labor.«
(translated from German)
»The triumph of the national ideal across the globe demonstrated the lack of any necessary correspondence between system and impact, the intellectual depth and reach of an ideology and its mobilizing power in the modern world.«
»Casual time appears only as the darkness that causes an ›accident‹ and a lacuna in production. It is a lapse in the system, and its diabolic adversary; […]«
»›You don't like lobster?‹ I carried it back to the kitchen. ›I love lobster but...‹ The problem was now obvious and I could sympathise. ›You find the killing process unpleasant. Agreed.‹ I put the lobster in the freezer and explained to Rosie that I had researched lobster-execution methods, and the freezer method was considered the most humane. [...] While the lobster died, Rosie continued her sniffling around.«
