Date: 1975

"Each morning for the next ten days he bore his precious vessel to the examination halls and poured a measured quantity of the contents on to the pages of ruled quarto. Day by day the level fell, until on the tenth day the vessel was empty, the cup was drained, the cupboard was bare"

— Lodge, David (b. 1935)

Date: 1975

"In the years that followed he set about replenishing his mind, but it was never quite the same. The sense of purpose was lacking--there was no great Reckoning against which he could hoard his knowledge, so that it tended to leak away as fast as he acquired it."

— Lodge, David (b. 1935)

Date: 1975

"His soul, like his stomach, was in turmoil."

— Lodge, David (b. 1935)

Date: 1984

"Case felt as though his brain were jammed."

— Gibson, William (b. 1948)

Date: 1984

"Lines of light ranged in the non-space of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding."

— Gibson, William (b. 1948)

Date: 1984

"In his mind's eye, a kind of time-lapse photography took place, revealing the thing as the biological equivalent of a machine gun, hideous in its perfection."

— Gibson, William (b. 1948)

Date: 1984

"Each time the image of Deane's shattered head struck the rear wall of the office, Case was aware of another thought, something darker, hidden, that rolled away, diving like a fish, just beyond his reach."

— Gibson, William (b. 1948)

Date: 1984

"Like, I own your brain and what you know, but your thoughts have Swiss citizenship."

— Gibson, William (b. 1948)

Date: 1984

"His brain was deep-fried. No, he decided, it had been thrown into hot fat and left there, and the fat had cooled, a thick dull grease congealing on wrinkled lobes, shot through with greenish-purple flashes of pain."

— Gibson, William (b. 1948)

Date: 1984

"Closing his eyes, he felt for the knot of rage, the pure small coal of his anger."

— Gibson, William (b. 1948)