I forgot everything I read, but this one line was worth it…

I read Michael Crichton’s Sphere when I was a kid. More than 20 years ago. I don’t remember much of it. A giant alien sphere is found in the ocean. It says so on the back cover, and I couldn’t tell you more. But upon discovering this alien device it is suggested that the thing may be hazardous to enter and that perhaps that was its purpose – perhaps a weapon or a scientific tool that tortures unwary subjects. Then another character suggests something else: that we simply cannot know based only on how it affects us. If an ant ambled into a telecom satellite and were killed by the wiring or heat of the mechanisms, it might think to itself that this device was surely built with nefarious purposes. Otherwise, why would it set a trap for me.

That’s all I remember about the book. I spent hours reading a novel and none of it stuck in my mind except that.

Did you ever read a book, and it must have been a long time ago or felt like ages since you finished it, that changed your outlook in maybe a subtle way with just one passage? Maybe it was a brief aside, maybe a delectable organization of words, perhaps just a thought you never paused to consider. It may have been central to the book’s thesis or just an offhand remark. But you read it and it just made sense.

Please share.

by RandomDigitalSponge