Rules and Order Quotes in Snow Crash

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

You can't just materialize anywhere in the Metaverse, like Captain Kirk beaming down from on high. This would be confusing and irritating to the people around you. (5.5)

There are rules in the Metaverse governing how virtual reality works. Sometimes you can bend them (especially if you're a hacker), but other rules are like gravity, which means they're pretty darn hard to work around.

Quote #2

Feds don't smoke. Feds generally don't overeat. The health plan is very specific, contains major incentives, get too heavy or wheezy and, no one says anything about it—which would be rude—but you feel a definite pressure, a sense of not fitting in, as you walk across the sea of desks, eyes glance up to follow you, estimating the mass of your saddlebags (37.4)

The worst kinds of rules are the ones we internalize: social pressure and shame, two powerful tactics, which the Feds utilize to keep everyone healthy enough for health insurance purposes.

Quote #3

"L. Bob Rife has taken xenoglossia and perfected it, turned it into a science. He can control these people by grafting radio receivers into their skulls, broadcasting instructions—me—directly into their brainstems." (57.6-7)

The ultimate in control: being able to transmit orders and directions straight into people's heads. No wonder Rife is such a scary villain.