The Dark Defiles

Dinnae ask me how majic works… but wun way or the uthir it canny be oll its craked up tae be or ah suppose the wurld woold be toatally fukin wunderffil an happy an aw that an folk woold live in peece an harminy an so on; thatill be the day, if ye ask me. Enyway its no like that ataw, so it isnay, an just as well to, say I, coz utherwyse thay wooldnae need peepil like me (an itid be ded fukin boarin to).

Naw, ahm doin no to bad these days; servises mutch in dimand…

—Iain Banks, The Bridge

Call for justice or explanation, and the sea will thunder back with its mute clamour. Men’s accounts with the gods do not balance.

—George Steiner, The Death of Tragedy