Quotes from Faith Of Our Fathers ( 1967 )

"Do you watch television unusually much?" he asked abruptly. Taken by surprise, Chien said, "Every evening. Except on Friday, when I go to my club to practice the esoteric imported art from the defeated West of steer-roping."

"It will rest eyes fatigued by the countenance of meaningless official monologues," the peddler said. "A soothing prepapration; take it as soon as you find yourself exposed to the usual dry and lengthy sermons which-"

"…once having lost the global war to us, the American youth has developed a talent for dissembling."

…the face of the Benefactor moved, and from it came the familiar homily, in more than familiar accents. "Fight for peace, my sons," it intoned gently, firmly.

Obviously the CP U.S.A. is in trouble; its indocrination academies aren't managing to do their job with the notoriously mulish, eccentric Yank youths.

It had always run against his grain, the use of poetry - of any art - for social purposes.

With a groan, Chien rose to his feet, bowed the mandatory bow of response; each TV set came equipped with monitoring devices to narrate to the Secpol, the Security Police, whether its owner was bowing and/or watching.

…where did devout Party enthusiasm end and sardonic lampoonery begin?

"…you are summarily ordered to repose yourself ina comfortable, stress-free posture before your screen and give the Leader your unexcelled attention.

Mandatory speeches, he thought, will kill us all, bury us…

They'll watch me; they're alert. Technically, I haven't broken a law, but - they'll be watching, all right. However, they always watched anyhow.

I guess, he thought, this is how drugs come to you; all of a sudden they're there.

You go anywhere, appear any time, devour anything; you engineer life and then guzzle it, and you enjoy that. He thought, You are God.

"…do you believe in God?" " 'God'! " She laughed. "That went out with the donkey steam engine…"

"I think," Tanya said, "that if there is a God He has very little interest in human affairs. That's my theory, anyhow. I mean, He doesn't seem to care if evil triumphs or people or animals get hurt and die. I frankly don't see Him anywhere around."

"Did it ever occur to you, "Chien said, "that good and evil are names for the same thing? That God could be both good and evil at t3h same time?"