Ted Chiang

Science fiction is very well suited to asking philosophical questions; questions about the nature of reality, what it means to be human, how do we know the things that we think we know.

Similarly, knowledge of the future was incompatible with free will. What made it possible for me to exercise freedom of choice also made it impossible for me to know the future. Conversely, now that I know the future, I would never act contrary to that future, including telling others what I know: those who know the future don't talk about it. Those who've read the Book of Ages never admit to it.

Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough.

The universe began as an enormous breath being held. I am glad that it did... until this great exhalation is finished, my thoughts live on.