"Remember - when you hear the song of the Turtle, you must put aside all other things and tell this story." 

― Roland Deschain [The Dark Tower VI]

“See the TURTLE of enormous girth!
On his shell he holds the earth. 
His thought is slow but always kind; 
he holds us all within his mind .
On his back all vows are made; 
he sees the truth but mayn't aid. 
He loves the land and loves the sea, 
And even loves a child like me.

On his back the truth is carried, 
And there are love and duty married. 
He loves the land and loves the sea, 
And even loves a child like me.”

― Maturin’s Poem [The Dark Tower] 

“The box contains us. The box contains everything. And inside the box, there’s another box. Ad infinitum; ad nauseam. Uh oh.” 

― Stewart [Devs]

“The Matrix has its roots in primitive arcade games,' said the voice-over, 'in early graphics programs and military experimentation with cranial jacks.' On the Sony, a two-dimensional space war faded behind a forest of mathematically generated ferns, demonstrating the spatial possibilities of logarithmic spirals; cold blue military footage burned through, lab animals wired into test systems, helmets feeding into fire control circuits of tanks and war planes. 'Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts... A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding...” 

― Neuromancer <William Gibson>

"Ever thought of selling your horse?" Rick asked. He wished to god he had a horse, in fact any animal. Owning and maintaining a fraud had a way of gradually demoralizing one. And yet from a social standpoint it had to be done, given the absence of the real article. He had therefore no choice except to continue. Even were he not to care himself, there remained his wife, and Iran did care. Very much.

Barbour said, "It would be immoral to sell my horse."

"Sell the colt, then. Having two animals is more immoral than not having any."

― Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? <Philip K. Dick>

“Does anything ever happen without a reason?” – Katie

“There must be some events. Random events.” – Lily

“Name a random event. Take a moment. Think about it. And then name one.” – Katie

“A coin flip.” – Lily

“A coin flip is not a random event. It’s a complex event. How hard was the coin flipped? What was the weight of the coin? The air resistance? The temperature of the room? The angle it landed on the table?” – Katie

“Okay, not a coin flip. But some things are random.” – Lily

“Then name one.” – Katie

“Selection.” – Lily

“Selection of what?” – Katie

“Selecting from things that are all the same.” – Lily

“What things are all the same?” – Katie

“Objects. Identical copies of a book at a bookstore.” – Lily

“You chose the one beneath the top of the pile because it had been handled less. Meteors landing. Roulette wheels spinning. Misfortunes suffered. They can all be unraveled. You can’t name a random event because there are no random events.” – Katie

― Devs [Episode 6]

“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.”

― Dune <Frank Herbert>

“Roland summoned his will and concentration. He focused them to a burning point, then turned his attention to the writer once more. “Are you Gan?” he asked abruptly, not knowing why this question came to him—only that it was the right question. 

“No,” King said at once. Blood ran into his mouth from the cut on his head and he spat it out, never blinking. “Once I thought I was, but that was just the booze. And pride, I suppose. No writer is Gan—no painter, no sculptor, no maker of music. We are kas-ka Gan. Not ka-Gan but kas-ka Gan. Do you understand? Do you . . . do you ken?”

“Yes,” Roland said. The prophets of Gan or the singers of Gan: it could signify either or both. And now he knew why he had asked. “And the song you sing is Ves’-Ka Gan. Isn’t it?” 

“Oh, yes!” King said, and smiled. “The Song of the Turtle. It’s far too lovely for the likes of me, who can hardly carry a tune!” 

“I don’t care,” Roland said. He thought as hard and as clearly as his dazed mind would allow. “And now you’ve been hurt.” 

“Am I paralyzed?” 

“I don’t know.” Nor care. “All I know is that you’ll live, and when you can write again, you’ll listen for the Song of the Turtle, Ves’-Ka Gan, as you did before. Paralyzed or not. And this time you’ll sing until the song is done.”” 

― The Dark Tower VII <Stephen King>

“Roland said, “Listen for the song of the Turtle, the cry of the Bear.” 

“Song of Turtle, cry of Bear. Maturin, from the Patrick O’Brian novels. Shardik from the Richard Adams novel.”

“Yes. If you say so.” 

“Guardians of the Beam.” 

“Yes.” 

“Of my Beam.” 

Roland looked at him fixedly. “Do you say so?” 

“Yes.” “Then let it be so. When you hear the song of the Turtle or the cry of the Bear, then you must start again.”...


...“You’ll tell our story until you’re tired,” Roland said. “When you can’t tell any more, when the Turtle’s song and the Bear’s cry grow faint in your ears, then will you rest. And when you can begin again, you will begin again. You—” 

“Roland?” 

“Sai King?” 

“I’ll do as you say. I’ll listen for the song of the Turtle and each time I hear it, I’ll go on with the tale.” 

― The Dark Tower VI <Stephen King>

“Aye, so it has, but he already has a story to work on, and he likes it fine. Going back to the tale of the Tower means swimming in deep water. Maybe drowning there. Yet he suddenly realizes, standing here at this crossroads, that if he goes back early he will begin. He won’t be able to help himself. He’ll have to listen to what he sometimes thinks of as Ves’-Ka Gan, the Song of the Turtle (and sometimes as Susannah’s Song). He’ll junk the current story, turn his back on the safety of the land, and swim out into that dark water once again. He’s done it four times before, but this time he’ll have to swim all the way to the other side. 

Swim or drown.” 

― The Dark Tower VII <Stephen King>

“On Turtleback Lane, in the year of ’02, month of August, Stephen King awakes from a waking dream of Fedic. He types “I don’t even want to be on the top floor of that place after dark.” The words appear on the screen before him. It’s the end of what he calls a subchapter, but that doesn’t always mean he’s done for the day. Being done for the day depends on what he hears. Or, more properly, on what he doesn’t. What he listens for is Ves’-Ka Gan, the Song of the Turtle. This time the music, which is faint on some days and so loud on others that it almost deafens him, seems to have ceased. It will return tomorrow. At least, it always has.” 

― The Dark Tower VII <Stephen King>

“Luck's the word those with poor hearts use for ka, Susannah of New York.” 

― Roland Deschain [The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole]