How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Tomorrow, a new prince shall rule. Men of understanding, men of science shall stand behind his throne, and the universe will come to know his might. His name is Truth. His empire shall encompass the Earth. And the mastery of Man over the Earth shall be renewed." (20.126)
Taddeo's got hopes for the future, and that future seems pretty peachy. But will it come to pass? Will the rulers of the world be philosopher kings for science?
Quote #8
FIRST REPORTER: What is Your Lordship's comment on Sir Rische Thon Berker's statement that the radiation count on the Northwest Coast is ten times the normal level?
DEFENSE MINISTER: I have not read the statement. (24.26-27)
We guess Taddeo's hope doesn't amount to much. The rulers of the world are not men of science or even those who will listen to men of science. They're once again simply those who have power and the desire to keep it.
Quote #9
The genetic festering is still with us from the last time Man tried to eradicate himself. Back then, in the Saint Leibowitz's time, maybe they didn't know what would happen. Or perhaps they did know, but could not quite believe it until they tried it—like a child who knows what a loaded pistol is supposed to do, but who never pulled a trigger before. They had not yet seen a billion corpses. They had not seen the still-born, the monstrous, the dehumanized, the blind. They had not yet seen the madness and the murder and the blotting out of reason. Then they did it, and then they saw it. (25.153)
The hope of science is that the more we learn empirically—that is, through experience and evidence—the better the world will be. But A Canticle questions this notion. The world has already seen evidence of the atrocities of nuclear war, but seems none the wiser for that experience. Shucks.