How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #1
"I'll bet it did. And that last combination dose you took was a lulu. But not, in itself, dangerous. All the same, Mr. Orr, you were doing something dangerous." He paused for effect. "You were depriving yourself of dreams."
Again the patient nodded.
"Do you try to deprive yourself of food and water, Mr. Orr? Have you tried doing without air lately?" (2.21)
You probably don't think about your dreams this way—after all, who does? But for once, Dr. Haber is actually correct. Dreams can be just as essential as food, water, or air. You dream every night, whether you know it or not. What would your brain do without dreams?
Quote #2
And the events of the mind, believe me, to me are facts. When you see another man's dream as he dreams it recorded in black and white on the electroencephalograph, as I've done ten thousand times, you don't speak of dreams as 'unreal.' They exist; they are events; they leave a mark behind them. (2.57)
Is it surprising to hear Dr. Haber talking about dreams this way? If so, why? Do you think it's because we associate science with reason and dreams with irrationality?
Quote #3
Dreams are incoherent, selfish, irrational—immoral, you said a minute ago. They come from the unsocialized part of us, don't they, at least partly? (2.62)
Is this true? We guess dreams come from our unconscious, but does that mean that they are incoherent, selfish, and immoral? Couldn't your unconsciousness just as easily be nice? Maybe it's just talking to you in weird metaphors?
Quote #4
The creative and therapeutic resources of the brain—whether waking or sleeping or dreaming—are practically infinite. If we can just find the keys to all the locks. The power of dreaming alone is quite undreamt of!" (3.33)
This is just one example of Dr. Haber referring to George's dreams as locks needing keys. Why does he use this metaphor? And what are the keys? Could it be the Augmentor?
Quote #5
"For example," he said, "I frequently daydream heroics. I am the hero. I'm saving a girl, or a fellow astronaut, or a besieged city, or a whole damn planet. Messiah dreams, do-gooder dreams. Haber saves the world! (3.41)
Um... Well, those dreams tell us a lot about Dr. Haber. Like, this dude totally wants to be a Messiah, or Superman, or Super-Messiah. Yeah, we've all been there… or not. How do Dr. Haber's dreams compare with the dreams that George has? What do those tell you about him?
Quote #6
"No. I never buried anybody. Nobody died of the Plague. There wasn't any Plague. It's all in my imagination. I dreamed it." (5.98)
Here's a brain twister: is it true that there wasn't any plague? Is it not "real" because George dreamed it? Or is it just as real as anything else, especially since George can change reality? What makes reality real? Are dreams part of reality? Where do you draw the line?
Quote #7
"Freedom! Your unconscious mind is not a sink of horror and depravity. That's a Victorian notion, and a terrifically destructive one. It crippled most of the best minds of the nineteenth century, and hamstrung psychology all through the first half of the twentieth. Don't be afraid of your unconscious mind! It's not a black pit of nightmares. Nothing of the kind! It is the wellspring of health, imagination, creativity. What we call 'evil' is produced by civilization, its constraints and repressions, deforming the spontaneous, free self-expression of the personality." (6.107)
Who would have guessed that these words would have come from Dr. Haber and not from George? Dr. Haber believes the unconscious is not evil; he thinks it is a source of creativity and even power. So where does he go wrong? On the other hand, George seems to think that dreams are evil. Is he correct? Or are both of these dudes wrong?
Quote #8
"But I can't choose my dreams. Nobody can."
She sagged. "I forgot. As soon as I accept this thing as real, I keep thinking it's something you can control. But you can't. You just do it." (7.106)
Okay, you should be warned: there are many different themes in this book, but they all come back to Taoism. Dreams, love, war—it's often all about Taoism. Here, Heather and George are talking, and she wants him to choose a nondestructive dream. But he can't choose his dreams, duh—right? This is not only literally true, but it also in line with the Taoist belief that you shouldn't force things. Taoism is more about going with the flow, figuring out what your path should be and then following it whether you really want to or not.
Quote #9
"The individual-person is iahklu'. The recording machine records this perhaps. Is all your species capable of iahklu'? (8.6)
Ah, the aliens—we love them and their funny speech. This scene happens when we first see the aliens, and it sounds like they aren't actually hostile creatures. This alien sees George and asks Dr. Haber a question about him. What do you think "iahklu'" means? Are all species actually capable of it?