Altered Carbon Quotes: “Altered Carbon” is a science fiction novel written by Richard K. Morgan and published in 2002. It is the first book in the Takeshi Kovacs series. The novel is set in a future where consciousness can be transferred to different bodies, known as “sleeves,” allowing individuals to essentially live forever.
The story takes place in a dystopian society where wealth and power play a significant role. Takeshi Kovacs, the protagonist, is a former soldier and envoy, a specially trained operative. He is brought back to life in a new sleeve to solve the murder of Laurens Bancroft, a wealthy man who claims his own death was a setup.
Altered Carbon Quotes
Laurens Bancroft : Power is a matter of influence.
“The past is relevant only as data.”
Quellcrist Falconer : “Rage at injustice is universal. The ability to strike back is not.”
Quellcrist Falconer : “We aren’t meant to live forever. It corrupts even the best of us.”
Lizzie Elliot: “I was in the forest, Daddy. It was dark and full of monsters. I couldn’t get out. Where were you? I screamed and you never came!”
Quellcrist Falconer : “the true strength of the wolf isn’t fangs, speed and skill; it’s the pack. Whatever world you needle cast into, build a pack. Find ways to inspire loyalty.”
Takeshi Kovacs : Finding truth is more than a search for data. It’s an excavation of self. You have to keep going, no matter where it takes you. Because nothing can stay hidden forever.
“There are some arenas so corrupt that the only clean acts possible are nihilistic.”
Takeshi Kovacs : Sometimes, belief isn’t about what we can see. It’s about what we can’t.
Quellcrist Falconer : “We are more than the sum of our intentions.”
Takeshi Kovacs : Peace is an illusion. And no matter how tranquil the world seems, peace doesn’t last long. Peace is a struggle against our very nature. A skin we stretch over the bone, muscle, and sinew of our own innate savagery.
Reileen Kawahara : This is real power. Cutting away the things that make you weak one at a time.
Poe : From the sky above, there is always the mud below.
Quellcrist Falconer : “At its heart, violence is almost always, in one way or another, personal.”
Quellcrist Falconer : “Without death we can’t know what a life is worth.”
“I lay still for a while, picking up the scattered garments of my mind and trying to assemble some kind of reasonable outfit from them.”
Takeshi Kovacs : Humanity has spread to the stars. We set out like ancient seafarers to explore the limitless ocean of space. But no matter how far we venture into the unknown, the worst monsters are those we bring with us.
“Reality is so flexible these days, it’s hard to tell who’s disconnected from it and who isn’t. You might even say it’s a pointless distinction.”
“Take what is offered and that must sometimes be enough.”
Takeshi Kovacs : The danger of living too many times: you forget to fear death.
Quellcrist Falconer : “Life has to have limits or we’re not human anymore.”
