Quotes From "Artificial Gods" By Thomm Quackenbush

The UFOs were nothing more than the collective fantasies of a stressed out society... The world into which UFOs had appeared was one of under-the-desk siren drills against nuclear annihilation. Society had made a new myth, a communal idea of something outside a species apparently intent on dooming itself. Thomm Quackenbush

Maybe [aliens] have been in our lives a lot longer than we want to admit. People have always seen strange things–elves and fairies–and now we don't. Now we see them, right? Thomm Quackenbush

If I can alter my perception of the reality, I can change the reality itself. Thomm Quackenbush

If you get enough people believing one thing, it's like reality bends itself to allow that to exist. Thomm Quackenbush

Sex is usually cleaner than a blood sacrifice. Thomm Quackenbush

Any relationship that developed power dynamics, where she thought she had the right to dictate someone else's behavior or have him dictate hers, was ended almost immediately. She could not stand the thought of hands on her that presumed she belonged to them. Thomm Quackenbush

They were once fairies and elves. Now they are creatures from beyond the stars because you no longer believe in anything but humans. Thomm Quackenbush

Man created god upon his thoughts to externalize, to give form to his belief to give a reason for what they could do. The gods stole away the energies, let man believe he was ruled rather than that he rules. Thomm Quackenbush

Jasmine had endured enough parochial schooling before middle school to have a residual attachment to the beautiful parts of believing, the certainty of knowing one is loved by something beyond comprehension, but also a niggling fear of those who believed too much in anything they could not touch. Believers were the sort to wave pictures of dead fetuses at her when she went to her gynecologist for a checkup. Thomm Quackenbush

The stars glittered through the atmosphere, and he thought of the distances that light must take to hit his eye at exactly that moment. Without him here, those photons would have been wasted. Thomm Quackenbush

She was not the sort of woman guys settle for. She was the one they lust after and strive for. She was the one who ruins other people's relationships simply by existing, but she will always be surmounted as guys come to realize the virtues of the approachable girl next door. She was, in brief, too pretty to be trusted or had. Thomm Quackenbush

Please do not say magic like you are discussing a bowel movement... Humanity expects the lights, so they are provided. Thomm Quackenbush

Enough people disagree with what Jesus is to prevent Him from...from manifesting, as such. And billions don't believe He existed at all. He is a legend, a myth. A Jewish carpenter people ignore while committing acts in His name, even as they call themselves believers. Thomm Quackenbush

You have to surrender yourself to the experience. Thomm Quackenbush

Within you, within all human beings, is a seed of greatness that makes their kind quake with fear. Thomm Quackenbush

We're not mad, " he began, meaning he was. He was always a plural when mad, as though grammatically throwing his lot in with her mother gave him the power of her authority. Thomm Quackenbush

She resented a universe that forced her to fabricate cover stories for its more inexplicable vagaries. Thomm Quackenbush

The UFOs were explicable enough, just experimental aircrafts from the airport. Of course the government was not going to tell people what was actually going on. She would not be surprised if the government encouraged the UFO cultists to flock there as the perfect cover, since no one would ever believe them. Thomm Quackenbush

Were genuine aliens to find us… the chances were fairly good they would appear in a form beyond reckoning, shaped by the requirements of their environment. It was only for the convenience of the costume department of Star Trek that people believed in humanoid aliens. Thomm Quackenbush

I don't think I'm being harassed by little green stalkers. I don't know what's really going on, but I'd rather try to eliminate all rational excuses before blaming intergalactic monkeys from the fourth dimension who are somehow interested in this really boring town. Thomm Quackenbush

She harbored the childhood presumption that the truly scary things could only find her in the night. Thomm Quackenbush

He seemed like the sort to have a vast arsenal of smirks, shaped over a decade of nonverbal conversation. Thomm Quackenbush

Adolescence impelled her eyes to stay at an even keel, to deal with the ground before flickering to the heavens. Night became not dotted with fairy clouds of celestial brilliance, but simply the time when the sun was out of sight. Thomm Quackenbush

The stars were so simple when she was a kid, a smattering of glowing dust circling the Earth. She did not then know that each was a sun, most considerably more massive than the daylight one she knew. Thomm Quackenbush

He relented to the kiss and gave of himself what she required, his lips parting in symmetry with hers until the moment of realization collapsed. Thomm Quackenbush

She was not a vegetarian and knew firsthand animals had to die for her delectation, but she never liked to think about it. Thomm Quackenbush

The night sky made her feel infinite before she knew the word. Thomm Quackenbush

Disbelief is the strongest tool in our arsenal. Thomm Quackenbush

Take it with a whole shaker of salt, a grain won't be close to enough. Thomm Quackenbush

She wished she had eyes like her sister, huge and bright, constantly straddling the line between terrified child and ingénue. Thomm Quackenbush

You were abducted by space aliens. Of course you want egg rolls. Thomm Quackenbush

That these people are wandering around, looking for aliens to justify the emptiness inside them and let them feel special without effort, creeps me out. Thomm Quackenbush

If it took eons to get to the edge of one's galactic yard, she could not imagine the neighbors dropping by for a casual visit, especially since the heavenly houses were uninhabitable well into the next state. Thomm Quackenbush

I know for a fact the first UFOs reported in modern times, just before the crash at Roswell, were boomerang shaped and were reported as 'flying saucers' to describe the motion of their flight, like a saucer skipping over water. Yet immediately after, people saw and photographed saucer-shaped objects. Boomerang-shaped objects were rarely seen. Now people mostly report seeing large triangles instead of discs or boomerangs, because that is what they are told to expect to see. . Thomm Quackenbush

But aliens? There are TV shows about them. There are books and movies and more. The media indoctrinates you to them until people are so desensitized they don't flinch at seeing aliens on TV or having their children buy plastic versions for a quarter. Thomm Quackenbush

Once everyone thought you were crazy, they ignored you even when you told the truth. Thomm Quackenbush

Mythology was littered with people who meddled in the affairs of elves and fairies and were never again heard from. Thomm Quackenbush

All this electromagnetic pollution in the air from the Internet and cell phones, it cuts you off from God. Thomm Quackenbush

It was as though he had secrets, and he wanted you to know he would keep them for the pleasure of depriving you of their taste. Thomm Quackenbush

Summer flings always seemed amazing in movies, though that might be because the leading man did not ever call his romantic interest "dude. Thomm Quackenbush