How we cite our quotes: (Page) Vintage Books, 1989
Quote #1
I understood that the world was nothing; a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly—as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back. I create the whole universe blink by blink... (22)
Grendel's first childhood accident scars him for life in a lot of different ways. It's his first glimpse at the indifference of the universe and the only way to make the experience less psychologically painful is to do something pretty human—make up a philosophy that covers it. In this case, it means a pretty strong sense of self-determination: other things only exist if and when he perceives them. That rock over there? It's only a rock if Grendel stubs his toe against it. If you think about it, it's a pretty great defense mechanism.
Quote #2
"My knowledge of the future does not cause the future. It merely sees it, exactly as creatures at your low level recall things past. And even if, say, I interfere—burn up somebody's meadhall, for instance, whether because I just feel like it or because some supplicant asked me to—even then I do not change the future, I merely do what I saw from the beginning... Let's say it's settled then. So much for free will and intercession!" (63)
The dragon addresses the age-old problem of having God-like powers of future vision: if he can see future events does it mean they are fixed and can't be changed? Does his vision imply that he's fixed the future because he's following a pre-determined script? His tongue-in-cheek tone reinforces the dragon's sense that none of it really matters. If life is governed by each person (or monster) making its own choices or by some big master plan, it all comes down to one thing: death. Nice.
Quote #3
"In a billion billion billion years, everything will have come and gone several times, in various forms. Even I will be gone. A certain man will absurdly kill me. A terrible pity—loss of a remarkable form of life. Conservationists will howl." He chuckled. "Meaningless, however. These jugs and pebbles, everything, these too will go. Poof! Boobies, hemorrhoids, boils, slaver..." (70)
For a fiery creature, the dragon is one cool dude. For instance, he's able to talk about the extinction of Everything on Earth—including himself—with absolute detachment. It's a terrible blow for Grendel, who is still struggling to believe that he means something and can change his pre-assigned role in life as the bad guy. Bah, says the dragon. There's no point in worrying about it. We're all just a blip in the cosmic scheme of things.