Neal Stephenson Quote

"Ylma is having you work it out in the most gruesome way possible... so that when she teaches you how it's really done, it'll seem that much easier.... Like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer—it feels so good when you stop." This was the oldest joke in the world, but Barb hadn't heard it before, and he became so amused that he got physically excited and had to run back and forth across the kitchen several times to flame off energy. A few weeks ago, I would have been alarmed by this and would have tried to calm him down, but now I was used to it, and knew that if I approached him physically things would get much worse.

Part 4, "Anathem" - Anathem (2008)