The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain

But the woman did not believe she was being rejected because of her anklet. She easily perceived the inadequacies in her work. She believed in knowledge, in thought, in the humanization of space, and in the refuge of the University, where one could still live for ideas.

And he would think: I was there. That was the Practice. He saw that his urge to draw was indeed the desire to breathe and know and live, and that this was why the prophet had sheltered his gift.

She remembered the prophet saying how the Practice outlasted failure, how it failed and failed and continued to exist. “Here it is,” the old man had said. “Right here. In this room.” He cupped his hands, in which a flake of light from the bulb above him nestled as if alive.

But in order to establish that this new research was in fact research, she must connect it with careful threads to the traditional archives, she must display a thorough grasp of established knowledge, and on pain of disgrace she must not mispronounce any venerable name.

stressing the need for understanding across the human spectrum, and winning a burst of enthusiastic applause.

the head of the Campus Committee for Unity and Multiplicity,

The effort of discovering his new orders placed him under constant strain. At first he was relieved to find he would not work as a guard, but after some time he almost wished for such orders: they would have been clear, at least, and he might have gone back to the Hold, and perhaps eased somebody’s burden. Instead he went to the Doctors in the room

Look, this is simple, okay? Certain things are always with us.” She counted on her fingers. “One: scarcity. Limited space and resources. Two: the need to maintain order, which, when things are scarce, is always under threat. Three: surplus. Too many people, not enough stuff: the result is extra people. What are you going to do with all these extra

as if he had drunk deeply of the water her father had loved, immersed himself in a necessary spring, while she was crumbling, stunned, undone by the same experience, hurrying back to her apartment, hiding her tears from passersby, bumping into poles and fences.