Chapter 19, “Lest Darkness Fall” (p. 233)
“
“You see…when you get right down to it, I don’t believe you have my daughter. I won’t until I see her. And having seen her, I won’t believe I could lose her again.”
Sherman looked at him for a long time.
“The universe is, so far as I know, Doctor Mayer, indifferent to what you believe or disbelieve.”
— John Varley
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "“You see…when you get right down to it, I don’t believe you have my daughter. I won’t until I see her. And having seen her, I won’t believe I could lose her again.”
Sherman looked at him for a long time.
“The universe is, so far as I know, Doctor Mayer, indifferent to what you believe or disbelieve.”" in the context of "Chapter 19, “Lest Darkness Fall” (p. 233)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "John Varley" (Quotes, Millennium (1983): All page numbers from the mass market edition published by Berkley Books in May 1985, , 4th printing
Italics as in the book )
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Tags
About John Varley
John Herbert Varley (born August 9, 1947, in Austin, Texas) is an American science fiction author.
About John Varley
John Herbert Varley (born August 9, 1947, in Austin, Texas) is an American science fiction author.
View all quotes →