The Alpha

1:Hridaya (Heart) is the alpha and omega. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,

2:I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come--the Almighty." ~ Revelation 1:8,

3:'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. ~ Revelation 1:8,

4:Reconstitute the perfect word, unite
The Alpha and the Omega in one sound;
Then shall the Spirit and Nature be at one.
Two are the ends of the mysterious plan. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Secret Knowledge,

* WISDOM TROVE *

1:I'm an enormous product of my century, I'm a product of my upbringing. I was not aware of the fact that I was entering marriage with the highest set of expectations that humans have ever brought to the institution. It was really good to find that out. It doesn't have to be the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the moon and the stars - it can just be the moon. It's enough that it just can be what it is. ~ elizabeth-gilbert, @wisdomtrove

* NEWFULLDB 2.4M *

1:The alpha male is always willing to walk away. ~ Roosh V,

2:Touch is the alpha and omega of affection. ~ William James,

3:The alpha male must not be a wife beta. ~ Abdal Hakim Murad,

4:Hridaya (Heart) is the alpha and omega. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,

5:I was the alpha and the omega of my parents’ suffering. ~ John Green,

6:You may want the alpha, but the alpha has his pick. ~ Donna Lynn Hope,

7:He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. ~ M Scott Peck,

8:Architecture is the alpha principle of all arts. ~ Louis Ferdinand C line,

9:Most importantly, the alpha male is always willing to walk away. ~ Roosh V,

10:Effectiveness of assertion is the alpha and omega of style. ~ George Bernard Shaw,

11:When you're in a major market downturn, the beta eats the alpha. ~ Jeffrey Gundlach,

12:If the Alpha female wolf was there, then they were plotting a search party. Great ~ Lia Davis,

13:Oh my gods. The alpha of Clan Cat just got smacked with a rolled-up newspaper.
"Mom! ~ Ilona Andrews,

14:I was born in St. Andrew's and raised in Kingston then I attended the Alpha Boy's school. ~ Desmond Dekker,

15:If the alpha tried to separate him from Brenna, he'd have a fight on his hands. A bloody one. ~ Nalini Singh,

16:In my career? Me. I'm the boss. I'm the end all and be all. I'm the alpha and omega in that. ~ Morgan Freeman,

17:Knowing what matters most, what I call "being real," is the alpha and omega for leaders. ~ Stewart D Friedman,

18:But I’m definitely pulling the alpha caveman card on your pretty little ass during our sexcapade. ~ Gail McHugh,

19:Thus, even though the opportunity to dabble exists for the alpha male, faithfulness is the norm. ~ Ted Kerasote,

20:Musk pulled Justine close while they danced, and informed her, “I am the alpha in this relationship. ~ Ashlee Vance,

21:straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the geese which you supplied to the Alpha. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle,

22:I've always thought of the T-shirt as the Alpha and Omega of the fashion alphabet, ... The White T. ~ Giorgio Armani,

23:I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, y “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. ~ Anonymous,

24:Bellator silvae servi. Warrior of the forest, I, the alpha, call on thee to serve in this time of need. ~ Andrea Cremer,

25:Crap on a cracker, he’d flipped off an Alpha! And he’d called the Alpha Bob! Who did that? Seriously? My ~ Jennifer L Armentrout,

26:It was the way he communicated it, while still being the man’s man that he was, the alpha, who liked being in charge ~ Kailin Gow,

27:[T]hink of love as a state of grace: not the means to anything but the alpha and omega, an end in itself. ~ Gabriel Garc a M rquez,

28:always motivated the businessman and took charge in the relationship, but she still let Roger appear to be the alpha ~ Jonathan Sturak,

29:I never expected I would be connected to the Alpha male as some kind of ancillary object and to this day it mystifies me. ~ Courtney Love,

30:There is a very specific, unique brand of rivalry that exists between twins. You're always wondering who the Alpha twin is. ~ Alex Hirsch,

31:You are as sexy as fuck and as your equally sexy as fuck husband, it’s my job as the alpha to make sure everyone knows you’re mine. ~ T M Frazier,

32:Um. In a constellation, the brightest star is called the alpha. I thought maybe you meant that she’s … like … your brightest star. ~ Marissa Meyer,

33:It had to teach her to think of love as a state of grace: not the means to anything but the alpha and omega, an end it itself. ~ Gabriel Garc a M rquez,

34:It had to teach her to think of love as a state of grace: not the means to anything but the alpha and omega, an end it itself. ~ Gabriel Garcia Marquez,

35:A deadly mafia underboss and the alpha-male president of a notorious MC panting after the same woman? Oh, yeah. This could get real messy. ~ Nancy Haviland,

36:There are no fairy tales in the wild, no Cinderella stories. The lowly wolf that seems to rise to the top of the pack was really the alpha all along ~ Jodi Picoult,

37:For a new type of progress throughout the world to become a reality, everyone must change. Tolerance is the alpha and omega of a new world order. ~ Mikhail Gorbachev,

38:Silence, please? I'm trying to watch this documentary." Laurel nodded at The Bachelor. "I believe one of the females is about to present to the alpha. ~ Cara McKenna,

39:The more we walk the path first while becoming last and least in our organizations, the more we become like the Alpha and Omega whom we long to serve. ~ Dan B Allender,

40:Timing: The alpha and omega of aerialists, jugglers, actors, diplomats, publicists, generals, prizefighters, revolutionists, financiers, dictators, lovers. ~ Marlene Dietrich,

41:My definition of God: God is not only the alpha, the omega, he is friend, he's a confidant, he is a buddy. He is a lover of my soul. That's my definition of God. ~ DeVon Franklin,

42:I didn’t understand what it meant to be the Alpha. All I could do was hope that I could be enough as his tether. Of course, any courting he’d been doing before had stopped. I ~ T J Klune,

43:Logan knew the location of the hospital so he drove while Dillon found Vasile’s number in the directory of Alphas. Yes, they had a book with all the Alpha’s numbers in it. ~ Quinn Loftis,

44:He bent his head down, running his nose along my cheek. My neck. Behind my ear, huffing his scent onto me like he hadn’t done since he’d become the Alpha. I loved it. And him. But ~ T J Klune,

45:I describe in 'Chimpanzee Politics' how the alpha male needs broad support to reach the top spot. He needs some close allies and he needs many group members to be on his side. ~ Frans de Waal,

46:I think we in the Alpha Band, which was a strange group anyway, weren't dealing with any of these issues. They sneaked up on us and took us over, before we know what was going on. ~ T Bone Burnett,

47:I'm doing this for Toby and Marlee, not you." The defiant words were directed at Hawke.

The alpha gave her a mock-salute. "Heaven forbid you do anything because I asked you to. ~ Nalini Singh,

48:The alpha shook his head. “We are a peaceful pack.” Gator snorted under his breath as the alpha continued. “Unless provoked,” Jacque added. “Make no mistake. We will protect what is ours. ~ N J Walters,

49:I hated hurting him. Most of the time, I could forget about it, but the inexorable truth is this: They might be glad to have me around, but I was the alpha and the omega of my parents' suffering. ~ John Green,

50:I am more likely to be the mate of that old mare in the field than the mate of a royal, let alone the Alpha of our pack. And for the signs to appear even before I am sixteen seems quite doubtful. ~ Quinn Loftis,

51:I am the alpha. You follow." His extraordinary eyes held Andromeda's. "Not for always. For this."

Andromeda was oddly pleased that he'd clarified his statement. "Until we escape," she agreed. ~ Nalini Singh,

52:this another example of Federation hypocrisy? These people reduced all political complexity to pious platitudes, while they constructed the greatest empire in the history of the Alpha Quadrant. ~ Andrew J Robinson,

53:Ingenuity in meeting and pursuing the pupil, that tact for the concrete situation, though they are the alpha and omega of the teacher's art, are things to which psychology cannot help us in the least. ~ William James,

54:Reconstitute the perfect word, unite
The Alpha and the Omega in one sound;
Then shall the Spirit and Nature be at one.
Two are the ends of the mysterious plan. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, The Secret Knowledge,

55:He snarled. I showed him my teeth.
A rolled-up newspaper landed on my head and then on Jim’s. “None of that in my
house!”
Oh my gods. The alpha of Clan Cat just got smacked with a rolled-up newspaper. ~ Ilona Andrews,

56:A King Charles spaniel named Camilla Parker Bowles. Fucking Americans.

Black, Tasha (2014-12-22). Fate of the Alpha: Episode 1: A Tarker's Hollow Serial (Kindle Location 1321). 13th Story Press. Kindle Edition. ~ Tasha Black,

57:hierarchies are lies. Because no one needs the alpha. He gets to the top by puffing and bluffing until we all believe he belongs there. When your power is built on ignorance, you don’t want people talking to each other. ~ Isaac Marion,

58:Anyplace of work where you have a cross section of work, you have mini-ecosystem. A little representation of what the planet is. You have the Alpha Dog. You have the young ones, the old ones. The pissed off one. The quiet one. ~ Ryan Reynolds,

59:But something about Baxter made people uneasy and therefore compliant. It had always been that way, but never more so than now. With his prison tats and those cold eyes, Baxter was the alpha dog in pretty much any room he entered. ~ Christopher Golden,

60:I'm just another Opry entertainer. I'm not the start of the Opry, and I'm not the ending. I'm not the Alpha, and I'm not the Omega. It's been a pleasure taking part in the Opry and country music these many years. I'm part of a big operation. ~ Roy Acuff,

61:I have no idea. I think she thinks I’m the alpha of our pack and that there is only room for one without resorting to cannibalism.” “I’m going to take your weird wolf analogy and assume you mean that she wants to be the leader of your group. ~ Kasie West,

62:The physical union of a man and a woman, in essence, is a supernatural act, a reminiscence of paradise, the most beautiful of all the hymns of praise dedicated to the Creator by the creature; it is the alpha and the omega of all creation. ~ Samael Aun Weor,

63:I build no system. I ask an end to privilege, the abolition of slavery, equality of rights, and the reign of law. Justice, nothing else; that is the alpha and omega of my argument: to others I leave the business of governing the world. ~ Pierre Joseph Proudhon,

64:I know part of what turns me on so hard, makes me so violent with lust, is that he's dangerous. I fell for the bad guy. I'm crazy about the one who's trouble. The alpha that doesn't play well with others and doesn't take orders from anyone. ~ Karen Marie Moning,

65:Why is it that the Alpha females are crazy?"
Meryn shrugged. "She made sense to me."
Colton turned to Meryn. "You also set Aiden's car on fire when he ignored you."
Amelia looked at Meryn. "Sounds reasonable."
Meryn grinned. "I know, right? ~ Alanea Alder,

66:Nevertheless, I build no system. I ask an end to privilege, the abolition of slavery, equality of rights, and the reign of law. Justice, nothing else; that is the alpha and omega of my argument: to others I leave the business of governing the world. ~ Pierre Joseph Proudhon,

67:I have never found it difficult to abandon a group , to go against the alpha male or female. I have never much cared for gangs, for social tribes , for fitting in. I have known since I was very young that the in-crowd isin't my crowd;they are not my people. ~ Maggie O Farrell,

68:Colton cleared his throat. "I'm no expert on spirits and the occult, but this is Keelan we're talking about. If by some miracle his soul did find it's way back to the Alpha Estate, Voodoo Meryn with a Ouija board doing incantations would scare him back the way he came. ~ Alanea Alder,

69:Depression simply is. It has no beginning and no end, no boundaries and no world outside itself. It is the first, the last, the only, the alpha and the omega. Memories of better times die upon its desolate shores. Voices drown in its seas. The mind becomes its own prisoner. ~ Alexis Hall,

70:Depression simply is. It has no beginning and no end, no boundaries and no world outside itself. It is the first, the last, the only, the alpha and the omega. Memories of better times die upon its desolate shores. Voices drown in its seas. The mind becomes its own prisoner. I ~ Alexis Hall,

71:We are not doomed to an ultimate conflict with no hope of resolution. The message of the Scripture is one of victory - full, final and ultimate victory. It is not our doom that is certain, but Satan's. His head has been crushed by the heel of Christ, who is the Alpha and Omega. ~ R C Sproul,

72:There was an especially deep bond between the eldest and the youngest. Enza and Stella were the beginning and end, the alpha and omega, the bookends that held all the family stories from start to finish as well as the various shades and hues of personality and temperament. ~ Adriana Trigiani,

73:Those who work hardest to help others succeed will be seen by the group as the leader or the “alpha” of the group. And being the alpha—the strong, supportive one of the group, the one willing to sacrifice time and energy so that others may gain—is a prerequisite for leadership. ~ Simon Sinek,

74:Like the saber-toothed tiger’s fangs, or the Alpha Male’s testosterone, there’s just more Beta Male imagination than can really be put to good use. Consequently, a lot of Beta Males become hypochondriacs, neurotics, paranoids, or develop an addiction to porn or video games. ~ Christopher Moore,

75:There’s the Alpha male named Charles, the Alpha female Heather, the oldest female cub Jessie (my favorite), the younger male cub Daniel (who needs a lesson in manners, if he pulls my ears one more time I will relieve myself on his pillow) and the infant cub who is my second favorite ~ Mark Tufo,

76:7Behold, v he is coming with the clouds, and w every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail [3] on account of him. Even so. Amen. 8 x “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, y “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. ~ Anonymous,

77:Every person on the planet faces gaping jaws of uncertainty. The only antidote to this poisonous threat is drawing closer to Me. In My Presence you can face uncertainty with perfect Peace. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” REVELATION 22 : 13 ~ Sarah Young,

78:She's my alpha," he murmured, with a haunting sadness in his voice.

Alpha.

"Like the star?"
"What star?"
"Oh. Um. In a constellation, the brightest star is called the alpha. I thought maybe you meant that she's...like...your brightest star."
"Yes, exactly like that. ~ Marissa Meyer,

79:A problem I’ve always had with fashion magazines is that women are encouraged to copy other women. While I suspect that many men enjoy copying other men (consider the idea of the alpha male and beta males), and while part of what makes a man “superior” is how close he can get to “embodying manliness ~ Sheila Heti,

80:What happened to the alpha-wolf?"
"LEGOs."
"Legos?" It sounded Greek but I couldn't recall anything mythological with that name. Wasn't it an island?
"He was carrying a load of laundry into the basement and tripped on the old set of LEGOs his kids left on the stairs. Broke two ribs and an ankle. ~ Ilona Andrews,

81:It's a dominance thing," Lissa chimed in. "Like dogs. He was making clear to you that he is the alpha dog." I looked at her. "I mean, you're the alpha dog," she said quickly. "But he doesn't know that yet. He's testing you."
"I don't want to be the alpha dog," I grumbled. "I don't want to be a dog, period. ~ Sarah Dessen,

82:He had learned over the years that most professional and social situations were pretty much like water on uneven ground: sooner or later, they would work themselves level. People, over time, generally decided who was the Alpha and who the Beta. Higher rank sometimes helped with the determination, but not always. ~ Donna Leon,

83:A rolled-up newspaper landed on my head and then on Jim’s. “None of that in my house!”
Oh my gods. The alpha of Clan Cat just got smacked with a rolled-up newspaper. “Mom!”
She pointed at me with the newspaper. “Do not shame me.”
I clamped my mouth shut. When she pulled out the shame card, it was all over. ~ Ilona Andrews,

84:I knew you were more than a quick fuck. When the alpha in me saw the alpha in you, he saw his mate. The second half of his soul. His equal. Seeing you in my bed, in my home, around my animals, I’m not just fighting to keep your body. I’m fighting to win your heart. To prove that I am the man you need. Your forever. ~ Jessica Florence,

85:He held Aden’s gaze, the other man’s expression unreadable. “It’s the alpha’s responsibility and his privilege to create that environment—we are the guardians of every heart in our care.” Aden Kai might not be changeling, but he was an alpha and he held within his hands the power to change his people from the inside out. ~ Nalini Singh,

86:My name is Lucas Steele. I am the Alpha of the Coldspring pack. I’m calling to find out why you are still in my territory when you have not been sanctioned to be here. Not only that but why are staying across the street from the female I have claimed as my own?” Lucas asked his voice becoming a growl the longer he spoke. ~ Quinn Loftis,

87:My mom had this inate ability. Whatever town my mother moved to, the second she walked into town, she would instantly attract the alpha loser of that town. This guy was not a good guy. This guy was half O.J. Simpson and half O.J. Simpson. Scott Peterson sprinkles on the top, a side of Robert Blake. You know, not a good guy. ~ Christopher Titus,

88:In the timeless realm where God dwells, which is also your home, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, are one, and the essence of everything that ever has been and ever will be is eternally present in an unmanifested state of oneness and perfection — totally beyond anything the human mind can ever imagine or comprehend. ~ Eckhart Tolle,

89:Zen is a single step—the journey of one single step. You can call it the last step or the first step, it doesn’t matter. It is the first and it is the last, the alpha and the omega. The whole teaching of Zen consists of only one thing: how to take a jump into nothingness, how to come to the very end of your mind, which is the end of the world. ~ Osho,

90:Pornographic novels were novels about the things primates enjoy most, namely sexual acrobatics. They were taught to feel ashamed of these natural primate impulses so that they would be guilty-furtive-submissive types and easy for the alpha males to manipulate. Those caught reading such novels were called no-good shits, of course. ~ Robert Anton Wilson,

91:The deist God is a physicist to end all physics, the alpha and omega of mathematicians, the apotheosis of designers; a hyper-engineer who set up the laws and constants of the universe, fine-tuned them with exquisite precision and foreknowledge, detonated what we would now call the hot big bang, retired and was never heard from again. ~ Richard Dawkins,

92:At our most elemental, we are not a chemical reaction, but an energetic charge. Human beings and all living things are a coalescence of energy in a field of energy connected to every other thing in the world. This pulsating energy field is the central engine of our being and our consciousness, the alpha and the omega of our existence. ~ Lynne McTaggart,

93:He believes it’s in a woman’s nature to submit to a strong man. He understands that if he doesn’t worry about his needs, a girl won’t worry about them either. He doesn’t let the woman lead the interaction because it will result in her getting what she wants (attention and validation) at his expense. The alpha male has high expectations of women. ~ Roosh V,

94:Lukas grew more animated. “Yes! I also love Senpai High and Chicken, My Love.” Nya giggled. “I haven’t played the chicken game yet. Is it actually good?” “Yes! I’m playing it now, and there’s actually a really interesting plot about a chicken rebellion. I’m romancing the alpha hen, who takes no nonsense and pecks out the eyes of her enemies. ~ Alyssa Cole,

95:The silence is all there is. It is the alpha and the omega, it is God's brooding over the face of the waters; it is the blinded note of the ten thousand things, the whine of wings. You take a step in the right direction to pray to this silence, and even to address the prayer to "World." Distinctions blur. Quit your tents. Pray without ceasing. ~ Annie Dillard,

96:Bartender 101? Find the alpha. “Girl Scouts again? Fuck off.” The bald one looks back at the street, checking he has the right house. The young guy grins. The old one purses his lips. There he is. “I’m just fucking with you. I’m Darcy. Tom’s nude right now, but he’ll be right with you.” “I’m not nude,” Tom snaps in irritation, striding into the room. ~ Sally Thorne,

97:... you are a microcosm of Me - the Divine All, the Holy Everything, the Sum and Substance. .. the Alpha and the Omega. .. Yes, I am God, as you now understand Him. I am Goddess as you now comprehend Her, I am the Conceiver and the Creator of Everything you now know and experience, and you are My children. .. even as I am the child of another. ~ Neale Donald Walsch,

98:Age has no reality except in the physical world. The essence of a human being is resistant to the passage of time. Our inner lives are eternal, which is to say that our spirits remain as youthful and vigorous as when we were in full bloom. Think of love as a state of grace, not the means to anything, but the alpha and omega. An end in itself. ~ Gabriel Garc a M rquez,

99:What?" Connor asked, frowning at the alpha.
"That's my sister," Ren growled.
Connor stared at him. "I know. And I love her."
"Great," Ren said. "But what are your intentions?"
"My intentions?" Connor looked from Ren to Ande, frowning. Ren grinned, showing Connor his sharp canines. "When all this is over, you and I have a lot to talk about too. ~ Andrea Cremer,

100:Tell your masters the Alpha of the Timberwolf Pack says these streets are mine. This city, this territory is mine. If you sell drugs to poison my wolves, I will come for you. If you threaten my Pack, I will come for you. If you break the laws of my Pack land, I will come for you. The challenge is issued. And I will not be as quick as I was with this cur. Now go. ~ L L Raand,

101:Has he apologized?” “In the way that he apologizes. ‘I would do anything to protect you,’” I said, in a pretty good imitation. Mallory nodded. “He gave you an alphapology.” “What now?” “An alphapology. The apology made by the alpha male, which isn’t really an apology, but more a reason for insane behavior. Catcher does it all the damn time. Drives me up the wall. ~ Chloe Neill,

102:I would come to learn that the alpha female can read every single bit of food you put into your body. Make a choice that'a going to keep you strong and fit for the pack and you will pass muster; make a choice that's the equivalent of chocolate cake in the human world and you'll wind up urinating in streams to disguise your scent, or else suffer the consequences. ~ Jodi Picoult,

103:The alpha enjoys most of the attention in a social interaction, even when he’s not demanding it. And when he does demand it, the alpha captures the group’s attention immediately. When he makes a statement, it’s regarded as true, and the claims go unchallenged. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that the alpha in a group is trusted and followed without question. ~ Oren Klaff,

104:And isn’t the alpha male the one who’s responsible for protecting everyone? Not only the pack, but his mate too?” Dropping the fork, she threw her hands into the air. “I’m not saying I think you and I are—after just—I know we just met and that’s … but it’s not out of the question, is it? That your instincts to protect me could be as strong as your instincts to kill? ~ Marissa Meyer,

105:Sensing a favourable shift, Prim called for celebratory muffins and jam. Muffins and jam seemed to sooth everyone’s temper, particularly the Alpha Vanara’s whose delight in the jam was that of a child discovering blancmange for the first time. Rue could sympathise. She often felt that way about really good jam, not to mention blancmange. And this was, after all, gooseberry. ~ Gail Carriger,

106:Can you tell me more about the other werewolves? The name of the alpha, for example?” He gave me a blank look. “Mary-Cammie-Ryan-Matt-Alex-Jamie,” he said. “Right. Which one of them is the alpha?” I asked. He just shrugged at me. “Do you know any of their last names?” Now he tilted his head in confusion, like last names were some weird, useless human detail like male nipples. ~ Melissa F Olson,

107:We drove to the airport. On the way, Clay gave him "the lecture," including all the do's and don'ts of meeting the Alpha, which was only slightly more complicated than an audience with the queen. Don't sit until you're invited to. Don't talk unless he asks you a question. Don't eat before he does. Don't make direct eye contact. Jeremy demanded none of this, but that wasn't the point. ~ Kelley Armstrong,

108:Four men walked from among the trees. All of them had their heads shaved. The one in the front, the Alpha, had a beard, dirty blond and full. He was the same size as the other two wolves, large and intimidating, moving with a grace he hadn’t had before. The fourth man moved with them, smaller than the others, but his tattoos were as bright as they’d ever been, the raven fluttering on his arm. They ~ T J Klune,

109:We have no idea how busy God's hands are even when His mouth seems closed. Where God is concerned, silence never equals slumber. For those of us looking for an overall grasp of what the God of the universe is doing with planet Earth, few titles of Christ are more significant than those issued from His own mouth in Revelation 22:13. He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. ~ Beth Moore,

110:[...] The alpha-wolf has hurt himself [...]."
"What happened to the alpha-wolf?"
"LEGOs."
"Legos?" It sounded Greek but I couldn't recall anything mythological with that name. Wasnt it an island?
"He was carrying a load of laundry into the basement and tripped on the old set of LEGOs his kids left on the stairs. Broke two ribs and an ankle. He'll be out of comission for two weeks." Curran shook his head. ~ Ilona Andrews,

111:We are grass of the field. We flourish for a season and then fade. Death wipes us out. Yet, we are part of a totality that death cannot eradicate. I was, am, and will forever be a particle within a resurrecting cosmos. My DNA was included in the Big Bang. The blossoming of time, space, and multiplicity intended me, and I will be a part of the unfolding, flowering, and closing of time. I exist within the alpha and the omega. ~ Sam Keen,

112:I'm an enormous product of my century, I'm a product of my upbringing. I was not aware of the fact that I was entering marriage with the highest set of expectations that humans have ever brought to the institution. It was really good to find that out. It doesn't have to be the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the moon and the stars - it can just be the moon. It's enough that it just can be what it is. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert,

113:I was midway down to the first floor when it finally hit me: I had just told the alpha of all shapeshifters that hell would freeze over before I got into his bed. Not only had I just kissed any cooperation from the Pack good-bye, but I had also challenged him. Again. I stopped and hit my head a few times on the wall. Keep your mouth shut, stupid.
Derek appeared at the bottom of the stairway. "It went that well, huh? ~ Ilona Andrews,

114:Only Ren wasn't smiling. He was eyeing Connor suspiciously.
“What?” Connor asked, frowning at the alpha.
“That's my sister,” Ren growled.
Connor stared at him. “I know. And I love her.”
“Great,” Ren said. “But what are your intentions?”
“My intentions?” Connor looked from Ren to Adne, frowning.
Ren grinned, showing Connor his sharp canines. “When all this is over, you and I have a lot to talk about, too. ~ Andrea Cremer,

115:Right now, at this very moment, Jesus is preparing a place for His loyal subjects a home in heaven where their will be no more death, crying, or pain—a paradise where we will live with Him for eternity. He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. Are you getting the picture yet? The evidence is clear, compelling and overwhelming: JESUS IS THE KING. ~ Warren W Wiersbe,

116:Please allow me to wipe the slate clean. Age has no reality except in the physical world. The essence of a human being is resistant to the passage of time. Our inner lives are eternal, which is to say that our spirits remain as youthful and vigorous as when we were in full bloom. Think of love as a state of grace, not the means to anything, but the alpha and omega. An end in itself. Florentino Ariza, Love in the Time of Cholera ~ Gabriel Garcia Marquez,

117:Nothing can be rightly known, if God be not known; nor is any study well managed, nor to any great purpose, if God is not studied. We know little of the creature, till we know it as it stands related to the Creator: single letters, and syllables uncomposed, are no better than nonsense. He who overlooketh him who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,' and seeth not him in all who is the All of all, doth see nothing at all. ~ Richard Baxter,

118:David had spent the last fourteen days, while Kate was away, learning how to operate the ship’s systems. He was still learning them. Kate had enabled the voice command routines to help with any commands David couldn’t figure out. “Alpha, what is Dr. Warner’s location?” David asked. The disembodied computer voice of the Alpha Lander boomed into the small room. “That information is classified.” “Why?” “You are not a senior member of the research staff. ~ A G Riddle,

119:I kissed her," he explained, aggrieved.

"Mmm, yes, I had the dubious pleasure of witnessing that, ah-hem, overly public occurrence." Lyall sharpened his pen nib, using a small copper blade that ejected from the end of his glassicals.

"Well! Why hasn't she done anything about it?" the Alpha wanted to know.

"You mean like whack you upside the noggin with that deadly parasol of hers? I would be cautious in that area if I were you. ~ Gail Carriger,

120:Her name is Lilliana Atwater. Mid-twenties, dyed red hair, was last seen in a yellow raincoat. Any reports or injuries or anything in your neck of the woods?”
“Nope,” Joy said, “can’t say that it rings a bell. Have you tried Springton?”

Gee, no, I didn’t try the town NEXT to Tarker’s Hollow.

Black, Tasha (2014-12-22). Fate of the Alpha: Episode 1: A Tarker's Hollow Serial (Kindle Locations 1666-1668). 13th Story Press. Kindle Edition. ~ Tasha Black,

121:Did you know, the Alpha bond is a lot like the mate bond. The first twenty-four hours are apparently intense. I took oath from ten wolves today, and I can feel every fucking one of them in my head. And I use the adjective on purpose. You know what the most common response to facing death is?"
Simon let out a little snort.
Aaron's grin was wry. "Yeah, that. And when you consider that one of my wolves is Lucas, I haven't been this horny in about thirty years. ~ Kaje Harper,

122:He was pressed up against me after kissing me and being all… I don’t know… intense and growly and manly and saying nice thing after nice thing all, well… intense, growly and manly which made him sound like he really, really meant them. At the same time acting like the alpha male who just beat the rest of the world’s alpha males in hand to hand combat and after had climbed up a mountain of their carcasses and was thumping his chest and grunting, ‘Faye, my woman! ~ Kristen Ashley,

123:The incomplete knowledge of a system must be an essential part of every formulation in quantum theory. Quantum theoretical laws must be of a statistical kind. To give an example: we know that the radium atom emits alpha-radiation. Quantum theory can give us an indication of the probability that the alpha-particle will leave the nucleus in unit time, but it cannot predict at what precise point in time the emission will occur, for this is uncertain in principle. ~ Werner Heisenberg,

124:Is it safe here?" She whispered. He nodded.

"There's no safer place to be, than here in Lycaonia with the Alpha Unit." He winked at her trying to get her to smile. She immediately frowned.

"You jokers?" She pointed to him and Colton.

"Hey!" Colton protested.

Aiden laughed and nodded. "We are the best of the very best."

"Well, I'm reassured. I knocked your ass out with your own toilet today." She sighed and resumed eating the rest of her sandwich. ~ Alanea Alder,

125:And just in case, I have… this.” He pulled a velvet jewelry box out of his pocket. He opened it carefully so as not to touch the contents.
“I thought she already turned you down, man,” David said sympathetically.
“Are you fucking kidding me? Do you seriously think that if she beats me in a fight I’m going to propose to her?”

Black, Tasha (2014-10-06). Curse of the Alpha: Episodes 5 & 6: A Tarker's Hollow Serial (Kindle Locations 976-978). 13th Story Press. Kindle Edition. ~ Tasha Black,

126:Strength, Courage, Mastery, and Honor are the alpha virtues of men all over the world. They are the fundamental virtues of men because without them, no 'higher' virtues can be entertained. You need to be alive to philosophize. You can add to these virtues and you can create rules and moral codes to govern them, but if you remove them from the equation altogether you aren't just leaving behind the virtues that are specific to men, you are abandoning the virtues that make civilization possible. ~ Jack Donovan,

127:Strength, Courage, Mastery, and Honor are the alpha virtues of men all over the world. They are the fundamental virtues of men because without them, no “higher” virtues can be entertained. You need to be alive to philosophize. You can add to these virtues and you can create rules and moral codes to govern them, but if you remove them from the equation altogether you aren’t just leaving behind the virtues that are specific to men, you are abandoning the virtues that make civilization possible. ~ Jack Donovan,

128:Look, he’s curled up in his bed sound asleep. You must have been dreaming.” “That dog shouldn’t be sleeping in here anyway. He snores.” “Well, yes, but so do you.” With that, Nic threw off the bedcovers and padded into the master bathroom. Gabe scowled down at the dog. He had plenty of places to sleep—Nic had dog beds scattered in almost every room in the house. “It’s about time I assert myself as the alpha dog in the pack,” Gabe declared. From now on, the boxer would be banished from the bedroom. As ~ Emily March,

129:The alpha male doesn’t make apologies for being a man who has sexual needs. He doesn’t hide his intentions with women, so they know how to provide him with what he wants. If a woman isn’t comfortable with sex, he moves on and finds one who is. He isn’t going to wait for a woman to serve his needs. He’s not concerned if a woman rejects him in the bedroom—if he doesn’t get it from her, he’ll get it from someone else. As a sexual being, he expects women to be sexual as well. The alpha male lives in his own reality. ~ Roosh V,

130:The alpha male, on the other hand, lives much differently. First and foremost, he does what he wants to do. He doesn’t concern himself with personal rejection or social failure. His needs, wants, and feelings come before anyone else’s. No one’s judgment, dirty looks, opinions, or laughter is going to stop him from getting what he wants. He doesn’t ask for permission. If he wants to have sex with a girl, he uses his knowledge and skills to try to make it happen. His actions stem from desire instead of insecurity. ~ Roosh V,

131:Right," I scoffed, "Alpha Yam Ergo." Adrian nodded solemnly. "A very old and prestigious society." "I've never heard of them," said the girl who'd claimed the first shirt. "They don't let many people in," he said. In white paint, he wrote his fake fraternity's initials: AYE. "Isn't that what pirates say?" asked one of the girls. "Well, the Alpha Yams have nautical origins," he explained. To my horror he began painting a pirate skeleton riding a motorcycle. "Oh, no," I groaned. "Not the tattoo." "It's our logo," he said. ~ Richelle Mead,

132:Right,' I scoffed, 'Alpha Yam Ergo.'
Adrian nodded solemnly. 'A very old and prestigious society.'
'I've never heard of them,' said the girl who'd claimed the first shirt.
'They don't let many people in,' he said. In white paint, he wrote his fake fraternity's initials: AYE.
'Isn't that what pirates say?' asked one of the girls.
'Well, the Alpha Yams have nautical origins,' he explained. To my horror he began painting a pirate skeleton riding a motorcycle.
'Oh, no,' I groaned. 'Not the tattoo.'
'It's our logo,' he said. ~ Richelle Mead,

133:Thus astronomy plays an important part in Biblical symbolism. The Christian dispensation occurred near the end of the cycle of the ram and close to the beginning of the cycle of the fish. Jesus refers to himself as the ALPHA and the OMEGA, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. The first sign of the zodiac is Aries, the ram, and the last sign is Pisces, the fishes. Therefore, Jesus is truly the lamb of God and the fisher of men. The lamb and the fish were the only Christian symbols known to the early church. ~ Manly P Hall, How to Understand Your Bible,

134:When the first mechanical clocks were invented, marking off time in crisp, regular intervals, it must have surprised people to discover that time flowed outside their own mental and physiological processes. Body time flows at its own variable rate, oblivious to the most precise hydrogen master clocks in the laboratory. In fact, the human body contains its own exquisite time-pieces, all with their separate rhythms. There are the alpha waves in the brain; another clock is the heart. And all the while tick the mysterious, ruthless clocks that regulate aging. ~ Alan Lightman,

135:In order to the attaining of all useful knowledge this is most necessary, that we fear God; we are not qualified to profit by the instructions that are given us unless our minds be possessed with a holy reverence of God, and every thought within us be brought into obedience to Him.... As all our knowledge must take rise from the fear of God, so it must tend to it as its perfection and centre. Those know enough who know how to fear God, who are careful in every thing to please Him and fearful of offending Him in any thing; this is the Alpha and Omega of knowledge. ~ Matthew Henry,

136:Seriously though. This female attraction to the alpha-male throws me off a little bit, because I’m not anything like the guys you read about.”
Yeah. You’re better.
“I could never drive a motorcycle, or fight another man just for fun. And as much as I’ve fantasized about having sex with you this year, I don’t think I could ever say, ‘I own you’, with a straight face. And I’ve always wanted a tattoo, but probably just a small one, because no way in hell I could endure the pain. Overall, the books were interesting but they also made me feel highly inadequate. ~ Colleen Hoover,

137:Fury wagged his tail and smiled wickedly, then tried to look up Bride’s dress.
Vane caught him quickly by the neck. “Stop!” he snarled mentally to Fury. “Or I’ll rip your head off.”
Bride frowned at them. “Don’t you like my wolf?”
“Yeah,” Van said, patting him roughly on the head. “He’s my new best friend.”
“I’m your only friend, dickhead.”
Vane balled his fist in the wolf’s fur as a warning to him. “You know you have to be firm with wolves. Let them know who the alpha is.”
“Your father?”
Vane smacked Fury’s head.
“Ow!” ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon,

138:Tower and get up to the top floor. There’s a room up there with a computer in it where you can turn off the incinerator. There’s another computer that will override the lockdown system. It’s pretty simple. The hard part is getting in there. My card will get you into The Alpha Tower, but once you’re in, you’ll need a scientist’s card to get to the last room. As far as I know, they’ve all been bitten. It’s a tower full of diseased now, but if you can kill one in a lab coat, you may find a card. I think it’s suicide though, Rhys.” When Rhys looked at Flynn, the light glistened off his tear-streaked cheeks. “Can ~ Michael Robertson,

139:If you challenge someone, we can’t interfere,” Barabas murmured. “Remember, don’t provoke them.” I kicked the door open and walked in. Fourteen pairs of eyes glared at me from around the table. Beyond the alpha, fourteen other shapeshifters waited—the betas of each clan, invited as a courtesy. I looked from face to face. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” the male voice said. Third man on the left. Tall, wiry. Sontag. I looked at him. “Ready to put your claws where your mouth is, or are you going to cringe behind the big boys and yip all day?” His eyes flared with yellow. “Is that a challenge?” “Yes, it is. ~ Ilona Andrews,

140:Alpha. Cress leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees. “Like the star?” “What star?” She stiffened, instantly embarrassed, and scooted back from him again. “Oh. Um. In a constellation, the brightest star is called the alpha. I thought maybe you meant that she’s … like … your brightest star.” Looking away, she knotted her hands in her lap, aware that she was blushing furiously now and this beast of a man was about to realize what an over-romantic sap she was. But instead of sneering or laughing, Wolf sighed. “Yes,” he said, his gaze climbing up to the full moon that had emerged over the city. “Exactly like that.” With ~ Marissa Meyer,

141:The alpha mammalian center is not a specialized individual, but a role. Perhaps because this role embodies a greater degree of whatever metaphysical substance makes up the network of dominance and cooperation, mammal societies with dominance hierarchies should be considered more dispersed than centered. At the very least, however, they are a step along what is clearly an evolutionary trend toward centering, the prime mammalian manifestation of which is as striking as that of the atom, the cell, and the organism. Out of primal dominance hierarchies have emerged centralized human systems and civilizations. ~ Tyler Volk, Metapatterns - Across Space, Time, and Mind,

142:Well, what if..." Scarlet listed her head. "You said the control when your animal instincts will overpower your own thoughts right? But fighting and hunting aren't the only instincts wolves have. Aren't wolves...monogamous, for starters?" Her cheeks started to burn and she had to look away, scratching her fork into a set of initial. "And isn't the alpha male the one who's responsible for protecting everyone? Not only the pack, but his mate too?" Dropping the fork, she threw her hands into the air. "I'm not saying I think you and I are--after just--I know we just met and that's...but it's not out of the questions, is it? That your instincts to protect me could be as strong as your instincts to kill? ~ Marissa Meyer,

143:Grace to you and peace from i him j who is and k who was and who is to come, and from l the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ m the faithful witness, n the firstborn of the dead, and o the ruler of kings on earth. To p him who loves us and q has freed us from our sins by his blood 6and made us r a kingdom, r priests to s his God and Father, to him be t glory and u dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7Behold, v he is coming with the clouds, and w every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail [3] on account of him. Even so. Amen. 8 x “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, y “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. ~ Anonymous,

144:Perhaps our behavior becomes more understandable, however, when we remember that just like self-aggrandizement, self-criticism is a type of safety behavior designed to ensure acceptance within the larger social group. Even though the alpha dog gets to eat first, the dog that shows his belly when snarled at still gets his share. He’s given a safe place in the pack even if it’s at the bottom of the pecking order. Self-criticism serves as a submissive behavior because it allows us to abase ourselves before imaginary others who pronounce judgment over us—then reward our submission with a few crumbs from the table. When we are forced to admit our failings, we can appease our mental judges by acquiescing to their negative opinions of us. ~ Kristin Neff,

145:Ben Belkassem had boned up on the alpha-synths after DeVries stole this ship. Too much was classified for him to learn as much as he would have liked, but he'd learned enough to know her augmentation didn't include the normal alpha-synth com link. Without it, the AI should have been forced to communicate back by voice, not some sort of … of telepathy!

Yet he was beyond surprise where DeVries was concerned. After all, she'd survived multiple disrupter hits with no more than a few minor burns, killed eleven men saving his own highly-trained self, taken out a few ground-to-space weapon emplacements, escaped through the heart of Wyvern's very respectable fortifications, and polished off a destroyer as an encore. As far as he was concerned, she could do anything she damned well liked. ~ David Weber,

146:Sitting in his parents’ living room and fending off setup attempts

made Zev realize there was a downside to empowering his pack to

speak their minds—now he was forced to listen to them. Maybe he’d

have been better off leaving things as they’d always been. Then

nobody, and certainly not a female, even if she was an elder and a

relative, would dare speak to the Alpha in such a condescending way.

Zev dismissed the thought as soon as it entered his head. He was

glad his family cared, glad his grandmother felt confident enough to

question him, and glad members of his pack felt confident enough to

share their feelings. The pack was stronger for it, even if it meant Zev

had to endure this emotionally debilitating family intervention. ~ Cardeno C,

147:Consider the master elk herd bull who has earned the right to mate with all the cows in the herd. Granted, mating is energy expensive, but just as expensive is all the stress and anxiety used in warding off the competition. This elk bull is virtually trapped in a constant state of fight-or-flight, and the choice is mandated by instinct: fight if necessary. He cannot eat enough, he cannot rest enough, and he’s using up his fat and bone marrow reserves at an alarming rate. That is why, when winter sets in, this huge, majestic, vital, and powerful animal is the elk most likely to die in late winter or early spring. The expenditure of all that energy can kill it. In effect, the alpha male’s “sacrifice” helps conserve the energy of all the other bulls, and may the best one win during the next rutting season. ~ Jon Young,

148:In the West, we are perilously getting down to our last man. Liberal democracy, among us, is achieving the goal that Fukuyama predicted for it: It is eliminating the alpha males from our midst, and at a dizzyingly accelerating rate. But in Muslim societies, the alpha male is still alive and well. While we in America are drugging our alpha boys with Ritalin, the Muslims are doing everything in their power to encourage their alpha boys to be tough, aggressive, and ruthless…. We are proud if our sons get into a good college; they are proud if their sons die as martyrs. To rid your society of high-testosterone alpha males may bring peace and quiet; but if you have an enemy that is building up an army of alpha boys to hate you fanatically and who have vowed to destroy you, you will be committing suicide…. ~ Jon Krakauer,

149:Talin looked up at Clay. "Do you know what they are muttering about?"

He shook his head. "They're mated."

Oddly enough, Talin understood. Different rules applied to couples, especially couples as profoundly in sync as Lucas and Sascha. Their connection was a near visible line of pure emotion, one that made her hurt with envy.

"Tally." Clay tugged at her ponytail.

She glanced up, knowing that unlike the alpha pair, she and Clay remained divided. In her mind, she saw them on opposite ends of a glass bridge. Able to see the abyss that awaited if they didn't make it to each other, but unable to take the steps that would close the gap forever. "Sit down," she said, angry at him for being so possessive, at herself for being too scared to trust in his promise to never leave her again. ~ Nalini Singh,

150:Didn't you just turn eighteen, Jen?" Vasile asked her.
Jen looked a little confused at his choice of response. "Umm, yes. I believe that loud racket you heard a couple of weeks ago was Sally and Jacque's idea of a birthday party. What does that have to do with me leaving?"
"If you are eighteen, Jen, you are an adult. I can't make you stay here. If you want to leave, if you really think that is the best thing for you, then you can go. I will allow you to use the pack plane to get back to the U.S. if that is truly what you want," Vasile explained.
Jen cocked her head to the side, eyes narrowed at the Alpha sitting calmly in front of her. "Just like that? No trying to convince me to stay, or telling me not to give up, or yada yada yada bull crap?"
"No 'yada yada yada bull crap'," he agreed.
"Huh, okay then. ~ Quinn Loftis,

151:He froze, becoming stone still. As the hover climbed the hill to the palace, his shoulders sank, and he returned his gaze to the window. "She's my alpha," he murmured, with a haunting sadness in his voice.

Alpha.

Cress leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees, "Like the star?"

"What star?"

She stiffened, instantly embarrassed, and scooted back from him again. "Oh. Um. In a constellation, the brightest star is called the alpha. I thought maybe you meant that she's...like...your brightest star." Looking away, she knotted her hands in her lap, aware that she was blushing furiously now and this beast of a man was about to realize what an over-romantic sap she was.

But instead of sneering or laughing, Wolf sighed, "Yes," he said, his gaze climbing up to the full moon that had emerged in the blue evening sky. "Exactly like that. ~ Marissa Meyer,

152:Rosie flicks out her second knife and takes aim. It spins out of her hand like a star, straight at the Alpha’s chest. But the Alpha knocks it away easily. He raises a clawed hand at my sister and I feel a scream erupting in my throat, recognizing the motion from seven years ago. The swing will take my sister’s eye. I storm through the still-transforming Fenris, swinging my hatchet as if I’m hacking at tree limbs. Rosie’s eyes widen in horror as the Alpha’s claws being to descend. I grit my teeth and force my body forward, now ignoring the other wolves, desperate to reach her.
A roaring scream, all human but as fierce as any Fenris howl, echoes through the parking lot. My head snaps to see its source: Silas is running toward Rosie, hunting knives in one hand, axe aloft in the other. His eyes burn brighter than any hellfire. He swings out just as the Alpha’s claws are about to reach Rosie’s face, knocking the monster out of the way. ~ Jackson Pearce,

153:Imagine early hominid life as a tense balance of power between the alpha (and an ally or two) and the larger set of males who are shut out of power. Then arm everyone with spears. The balance of power is likely to shift when physical strength no longer decides the outcome of every fight. That’s essentially what happened, Boehm suggests, as our ancestors developed better weapons for hunting and butchering beginning around five hundred thousand years ago, when the archaeological record begins to show a flowering of tool and weapon types.30 Once early humans had developed spears, anyone could kill a bullying alpha male. And if you add the ability to communicate with language, and note that every human society uses language to gossip about moral violations,31 then it becomes easy to see how early humans developed the ability to unite in order to shame, ostracize, or kill anyone whose behavior threatened or simply annoyed the rest of the group. ~ Jonathan Haidt,

154:No, Faith ain’t gonna get charged with assault. I’m not even sure the incident occurred cause neither are you. You get three days off on the Alpha to get your head back together. Then you decide if you want to help out or go in a hold. Or, hell, I’ll drop you off at a little town and you can fight zombies for supplies and fish for your supper. If you decide you want to help, God knows we need people who can organize and you should be able to do that. But if so, you’re going to have to climb down. And you sure as shit had better figure out a way to apologize to Lieutenant Smith or at some point you’re going to end up shark bait. Because the Marines, with the exception of Captain Milo ‘I’m scared of zombies’ Wilkes, just absolutely hate your fucking guts. And the one group you do not want pissed off at you in this Squadron is the fucking Marines. And of all the Marines, the one you seriously do not want to get on the bad side of is Faith Marie Smith. They call her Shewolf for a reason… ~ John Ringo,

155:Mirror
mirror mirror on the wall whos the fairest of them all?
show me who it is tell me please i have to know.
mirror mirror it is not me so tell me please you taunt me and
say im fair but i am not the fairest so who could it be?
mirror mirror who is this that you call jesus the alpha omega my
begining and end the fairest the greatest the best in the universe.
then show me him and show me myself in our true from...............! ! ! ! ! ! !
no way no how him a simple white dove and me a beast what! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
this is outrageous an abomination he is pure and clean and me a beast
you called me fair how can this be........................what did you say
look closer i am not the beast but the one that is trying to control me is
oh my the devil that is the beast but wait the dove is overpowering
so i am the fairest through the dovei see i see i do belive thank you
mirror mirror on the wall for showing me who is the fairest of them all.
~ david bailey,

156:Roth,” muttered Zayne. He sounded closer, but I didn’t want to take my eyes off the Alphas to check. “You might want to chill out a bit.”
The Crown Prince smirked. “Nah. You want to know why? The Alphas could end me, but they’re not going to.”
Across from us, the Alpha who had spoken stiffened but didn’t interrupt.
“You see, I am the favorite Crown Prince,” Roth continued, his smirk spreading. “They take me out when I haven’t done anything to warrant it and they’ll have the Boss to contend with. They don’t want that.”
Surprise flickered through me. They couldn’t just end Roth because of who he was? I’d always thought they could simply do as they pleased.
The Alpha who had been silent up to this point spoke. “There are rules for a reason. It does not mean we have to like them, so I’d suggest you do not push your luck, Prince.”
Then Roth did the unthinkable. He raised his hand and extended his middle finger. “Does this count as pushing it, Bob?”
Crap on a cracker, he’d flipped off an Alpha! And he’d called the Alpha Bob! Who did that? Seriously? ~ Jennifer L Armentrout,

157:Jesus is worthy of our devotion and our thanks. Your Jesus is the One who rode into the depths of the darkest, most dangerous dungeon to rescue his true love. He is the One who will ride again on a white steed with fire in his eyes and a flaming sword in his hand. He has inscribed you into the palm of his nail-pierced hand. He knows your every thought, numbers your every hair, and cherishes your every tear. Jesus weeps for you and with you, longs for you, hopes for you, dreams of you, and rejoices over you with singing. He is the One who has battled all the forces of hell to free you and who battles still. Jesus is your knight in shining armor. He is the love you have been longing for. He is your dream come true. He is your hero. He is Aslan, the Lion of Judah, and the Lamb of God. He is the Prince of Peace, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Mighty One. His name is like a kiss and an earthquake. His gaze is on you. He has pledged his love to you and betrothed you to him forever. He is unchangeable, and his love will never fail you. ~ Stasi Eldredge,

158:She smoothed her skirt around her knees. “This Scarlet … you’re in love with her, aren’t you?” He froze, becoming stone still. As the hover climbed the hill to the palace, his shoulders sank, and he returned his gaze to the window. “She’s my alpha,” he murmured, with a haunting sadness in his voice. Alpha. Cress leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees. “Like the star?” “What star?” She stiffened, instantly embarrassed, and scooted back from him again. “Oh. Um. In a constellation, the brightest star is called the alpha. I thought maybe you meant that she’s … like … your brightest star.” Looking away, she knotted her hands in her lap, aware that she was blushing furiously now and this beast of a man was about to realize what an over-romantic sap she was. But instead of sneering or laughing, Wolf sighed. “Yes,” he said, his gaze climbing up to the full moon that had emerged over the city. “Exactly like that.” With a quick twist to her heart, Cress’s fear of him began to subside. She’d been right back at the boutique. He was like the hero of a romance story, and he was trying to rescue his beloved. His alpha. ~ Marissa Meyer,

159:In conclusion, I return to Einstein. If we find a planet in the Alpha Centauri system, its image, captured by a camera travelling at a fifth of light speed, will be slightly distorted due to the effects of special relativity. It would be the first time a spacecraft has flown fast enough to see such effects. In fact, Einstein’s theory is central to the whole mission. Without it we would have neither lasers nor the ability to perform the calculations necessary for guidance, imaging and data transmission over twenty-five trillion miles at a fifth of light speed.
We can see a pathway between that sixteen-year-old boy dreaming of riding on a light beam and our own dream, which we are planning to turn into a reality, of riding our own light beam to the stars. We are standing at the threshold of a new era. Human colonisation on other planets is no longer science fiction. It can be science fact. The human race has existed as a separate species for about two million years. Civilisation began about 10,000 years ago, and the rate of development has been steadily increasing. If humanity is to continue for another million years, our future lies in boldly going where no one else has gone before.
I hope for the best. I have to. We have no other option. ~ Stephen Hawking,

160:Oh sure, and you know who listens to them? Pansy, overeducated know-it-alls, and you know who listens to them? Nobody! Who’s going to care about some PBS-NPR fringe minority that’s out of touch with the mainstream? The more those elitist eggheads shouted “The Dead Are Walking,” the more most real Americans tuned them out.

So, let me see if I understand your position.

The administration’s position.

The administration’s position, which is that you gave this problem the amount of attention that you thought it deserved.

Right.

Given that at any time, government always has a lot on its plate, and especially at this time because another public scare was the last thing the American people wanted.

Yep.

So you figured that the threat was small enough to be “managed” by both the Alpha teams abroad and some additional law enforcement training at home.

You got it.

Even though you’d received warnings to the contrary, that it could never just be woven into the fabric of public life and that it actually was a global catastrophe in the making.

[Mister Carlson pauses, shoots me an angry look, then heaves a shovelful of “fuel” into his cart.]

Grow up. ~ Max Brooks,

161:21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place [55] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, [56] and God himself will be with them as their God. [57] 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. ~ Anonymous,

162:We have one more problem,” Gordon said. I sighed; werewolf politics was making my head hurt. “Yes?” “Elijah will be most displeased to see Tommy; it will not end well I’m sure.” “Why?” I asked Tommy. He didn’t appear to be happy to have to answer the question. “I’ve not been entirely honest,” he eventually told me. “I’m not a pack member, because if I was, I would have to challenge for alpha. I’m too powerful for Matthew and I to coexist in the same pack. Pack members already come to me for help, and Matthew allows it because I have no desire to replace him.” “But…” I said. “But, there are people here, mostly the same ones who want Matthew gone, who believe that my involvement undermines the alpha. They want me to either go and never return, or fight for the leadership.” He turned to Gordon. “Neither of which is going to happen.” Gordon bowed his head slightly. “So let me get this straight,” I started. “Elijah is probably hiding the man we’re looking for, and Ellie can demand that he hand Neil over, but in exchange for this, he and his supporters will try to force Tommy to challenge for the leadership.” “In a nutshell, yes,” Matthew said. “He considers Tommy less of a threat. No offence.” “None taken,” Tommy said. He downed the rest of his beer and stood. “Well, let’s get this over with. ~ Steve McHugh,

163:While Alpha Males are often gifted with superior physical attributes—size, strength, speed, good looks—selected by evolution over the eons by the strongest surviving and, essentially, getting all the girls, the Beta Male gene has survived not by meeting and overcoming adversity, but by anticipating and avoiding it. That is, when the Alpha Males were out charging after mastodons, the Beta Males could imagine in advance that attacking what was essentially an angry, woolly bulldozer with a pointy stick might be a losing proposition, so they hung back at camp to console the grieving widows. When Alpha Males set out to conquer neighboring tribes, to count coups and take heads, Beta Males could see in advance that in the event of a victory, the influx of female slaves was going to leave a surplus of mateless women cast out for younger trophy models, with nothing to do but salt down the heads and file the uncounted coups, and some would find solace in the arms of any Beta Male smart enough to survive. In the case of defeat, well, there was that widows thing again. The Beta Male is seldom the strongest or the fastest, but because he can anticipate danger, he far outnumbers his Alpha Male competition. The world is led by Alpha Males, but the machinery of the world turns on the bearings of the Beta Male. ~ Christopher Moore,

164:Man's inhumanity to man will continue as long as man loves God more than he loves his fellow man. The love of God means wasted love. 'For God and Country' means a divided allegiance—a 50 per cent patriot.

The most abused word in the language of man is the word 'God.' The reason for this is that it is subject to so much abuse. There is no other word in the human language that is as meaningless and incapable of explanation as is the word 'God.' It is the beginning and end of nothing. It is the Alpha and Omega of Ignorance.

It has as many meanings as there are minds. And as each person has an opinion of what the word God ought to mean, it is a word without premise, without foundation, and without substance. It is without validity. It is all things to all people, and is as meaningless as it is indefinable. It is the most dangerous in the hands of the unscrupulous, and is the joker that trumps the ace. It is the poisoned word that has paralyzed the brain of man.

'The fear of the Lord' is not the beginning of wisdom; on the contrary, it has made man a groveling slave; it has made raving lunatics of those who have attempted to interpret what God 'is' and what is supposed to be our 'duty' to God. It has made man prostitute the most precious things of life—it has made him sacrifice wife, and child, and home.

'In the name of God' means in the name of nothing—it has caused man to be a wastrel with the precious elixir of life, because there is no God. ~ Joseph Lewis,

165: “But you know a way to catch him?” Nate said.
“I do.”
Brad slapped another photo on the table. A smiling teenage girl with blue eyes and blond hair streaked with red.
“Cute,” Carter grunted. “Let me guess, this guy has a crush on her.”
“More than just a crush. It’s his girlfriend.”
They looked surprised. The cute smiling girl definitely did not seem like a romantic match for the scowling brute in the other photos. But Brad had done enough surveillance to be sure of his facts.
“She’s another subject, one who escaped with your grandson and his foster brother. She’s a necromancer.”
Carter’s face screwed up. “A what?”
“Someone who can speak to the dead,” Theo said. “Like the Alpha’s girlfriend. The one on TV.”
“She’s hot,” Nate said.
“Little young for you,” Carter said, still eying the photo.
“I meant the one on TV,” Nate said. “So the kid’s got it bad for this girl?”
“He does, and he already has a werewolf’s protective instinct in spades. He’s the same way with his foster brother, which would be the backup plan, but the brother is a sorcerer and knows self-defense. A necromancer has no defensive powers and this one’s a tiny thing. She’s his weakness. That’s how Liam and Ramon got close enough to fight him. They made a tactical mistake, though. They settled for teasing and threatening her, which only pissed the boy off enough to fight. If you want him, you just need to take her. He’ll come running.” ~ Kelley Armstrong,

166:He tossed the dumbbell aside. It went flying and hit with a loud thud, leaving a dent in the pavement of the roof. Curran strode toward me, eyes blazing. “If I let her go, I’ll need a replacement. Want to volunteer for the job?”
He looked like he wouldn’t be taking no for an answer. I swiped Slayer from its sheath and backed away from the edge of the roof. “And be girlfriend number twenty-three soon to be dumped in favor of girlfriend number twenty-four who has slightly bigger boobs? I don’t think so.”
He kept coming. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. You get these beautiful women, make them dependent on you, and then dump them. Well, this time a woman left you first, and your enormous ego can’t deal with it. And to think that I hoped we could talk like reasonable adults. If we were the last two people on Earth, I’d find myself a moving island so I could get the hell away from you.” I was almost to the drop door leading to the ladder.
He stopped suddenly and crossed his arms over his chest. “We’ll see.”
“Nothing to see. Thanks for the recue and for the food. I’m taking my kid and leaving.” I dropped into the hole, slid down the ladder, and backed away down the hall. He didn’t follow me.
I was midway down to the first floor when it finally hit me: I had just told the alpha of all shapeshifters that hell would freeze over before I got into his bed. Not only had I just kissed any cooperation from the Pack good-bye, but I had also challenged him. Again. I stopped and hit my head a few times on the wall. Keep your mouth shut, stupid.
Derek appeared at the bottom of the stairway. “It went that well, huh?”
“Spare me. ~ Ilona Andrews,

167:Carbon originates in the Universe via a two-step process from nuclei of helium, or alpha particles as we usually call them. Two alpha particles combine under stellar conditions to make a nucleus of the element beryllium. The addition of a further alpha particle is necessary to transform this into a carbon nucleus. One would have expected this two-step process to be extremely improbable, but remarkably the last step happens to possess a rare property called 'resonance' which enables it to proceed at a rate far in excess of our naive expectation. In effect, the energies of the participating particles plus the ambient heat energy in the star add to a value that lies just above a natural energy level of the carbon nucleus and so the product of the nuclear reaction finds a natural state to drop into. It amounts to something akin to the astronomical equivalent of a hole-in-one. But this is not all. While it is doubly striking enough for there to exist not only a carbon resonance level but one positioned just above the incoming energy total within the interior of the star, it is well-nigh miraculous to discover that there exists a further resonance level in the oxygen nucleus that would be made in the next step of the nuclear reaction chain when a carbon nucleus interacts with a further alpha particle. But this resonance level lies just above the total energy of the alpha particle, the carbon nucleus, and the ambient environment of the star. Hence, the precious carbon fails to be totally destroyed by a further resonant nuclear reaction. This multiple coincidence of the resonance levels is a necessary condition for our existence. The carbon atoms in our bodies which are responsible for the marvellous flexibility of the DNA molecules at the heart of our complexity have all originated in the stars as a result of these coincidences. The positioning of the resonance levels are determined in a complicated way by the precise numerical values of the constants of physics. ~ John D Barrow,

168:If you are determined to be an effective shield, start by working on yourself. Great bosses avoid burdening their people. They invent, borrow, and implement ways to reduce the mental and emotional load they heap on followers. In particular, meetings are notorious time and energy suckers. Yes, some are necessary, but too many bosses run them in ways that disrespect people’s time and dignity – especially self-absorbed bosses bent on self-glorification. If you want to grab power and don’t care much about your people, make sure you arrive a little late to most meetings. Plus, every now and then, show up very late, or – better yet – send word after everyone has gathered that, alas, you must cancel the meeting because something more pressing has come up. After all, if you are a very important person, the little people need to accept their inferior social standing. Sound familiar? Using arrival times to display and grab power is an ancient trick. This move was used by elders, or ‘Big Men’, in primitive tribes to gain and reinforce status. An ethnography of the Merina tribe in Madagascar found that jostling for status among elders meant that gatherings routinely started three or four hours late. Elders used young boys to spy on each other and played a waiting game that dragged on for hours. Each elder worked to maximize the impression that the moment he arrived, the meeting started. If he arrived early and the meeting didn’t start right away, it signaled that he wasn’t the alpha male. If he arrived late and the meeting had started without him, it also signaled that he wasn’t the most prestigious elder. I’ve seen similar power plays in academia. I was once on a committee led by a prestigious faculty member who always arrived at least ten minutes late, often twenty minutes. He also cancelled two meetings after the rest of the five-person committee had gathered. I tracked the time I wasted waiting for this jerk, which totaled over a half day during a six-month stretch. ~ Robert I Sutton,

169:You take one step toward her and I’m going to fry myself up some Alpha.” Roth’s voice was low and deadly calm. “Extra-crispy style.”
One Alpha stepped back, but Bob looked like he would blow a gasket. “You dare to threaten us?”
“I dare a lot more than that.” Roth’s skin seemed to thin, his face becoming sharp angles. “I will not stand for one hair on her head to be harmed. If you want her, you’re going to have to come through me.”
Bob smiled widely at that, and my stomach plummeted. Roth was bound and determined to get himself killed because of me. He’d sacrificed himself to the pits, come back from that, and then gone against his Boss and saved my life. There was no way I could allow him to stand between me and danger again. “Stop!” I broke free of Zayne’s hold, but Thumper shifted. His tail swung back, stopping not even an inch from my hips.
I could go no further. My panicked gaze darted from Roth to the Alphas. “Whatever problem you have, you have it with me. Not them. So can we—”
Even as I spoke, Bob the Alpha moved toward Roth, lifting the fiery sword, and Thumper didn’t like that. Rearing back, he stretched out his long neck and opened his mouth, revealing fist-size fangs. The scent of sulfur increased, and then a burst of fire shot out of Thumper’s mouth.
A pain-filled shriek ended abruptly, and where Bob once stood was just a charred pile of ashes.
Everyone stood perfectly still. No one spoke or even appeared to breathe. And then, “Make that extra-extra-crispy style,” Roth said, studying the mess.
My knees went weak as I lifted my hands helplessly. Thumper spun on the other Alpha. There was a series of sickening crunches, and then the dragon looked over its shoulder, its golden eyes finding mine as it opened its mouth. A shimmery blue liquid stained its teeth as it huffed out a sound that really sounded like a throaty chuckle.
Bambi had eaten a Warden.
Thumper had eaten an Alpha.
These familiars were really low on manners. ~ Jennifer L Armentrout,

170:I gave him my best cryptic smile.
He grimaced. “What have you found out?” he asked.
“I’m not at liberty to tell you that.” Not with the Pack suspect.
He leaned forward more, letting the moonlight fall on his face. His gaze was direct and difficult to hold. Our stares locked and I gritted my teeth. Five seconds into the conversation and he was already giving me the alpha-stare. If he started clicking his teeth, I’d have to make a run for it. Or introduce him to my sword.
“You will tell me what you know now,” he said.
“Or?"
He said nothing, so I elaborated. “See, this kind of threat usually has an ‘or’ attached to it. Or an ‘and.’ ‘Tell me and I’ll allow you to live’ or something like that.”
His eyes ignited with gold. His gaze was unbearable now.
“I can make you beg to tell me everything you know,” he said and his voice was a low growl. It sent icy fingers of terror down my spine.
I gripped Slayer’s hilt until it hurt. The golden eyes were burning into my soul. “I don’t know,” I heard my own voice say, “you look kinda out of shape to me. How long has it been since you took care of your own dirty work?”
His right hand twitched. Muscles boiled under the taut skin and fur burst, sheathing the arm. Claws slid from thickened fingers. The hand snapped inhumanly fast. I weaved back and it fanned my face, leaving no scars. A strand of hair fell onto my left cheek, severed from my braid. The claws retracted.
“I think I still remember how,” he said.
A spark of magic ran from my fingers into Slayer’s hilt and burst into the blade, coating the smooth metal in a milky-white glow. Not that the glow actually did anything useful, but it looked bloody impressive. “Any time you want to dance,” I said.
He smiled, slow and lazy. “Not laughing anymore, little girl?”
He was impressive, I’d give him that. I turned the blade, warming up my wrist. The saber drew a tight glowing ellipse in the air, flinging tiny drops of luminescence on the dirty floor. One of them fell close to the Beast Lord’s foot and he moved away. “I wonder if all this changing has made you sluggish.”
“Bring your pig-sticker and we’ll find out. ~ Ilona Andrews,

171:MELITO OF SARDIS Melito, bishop of Sardis, died around the year A.D. 180. Until recently, few students of church history paid much attention to him. One of the reasons might be that he ended up on the “wrong side” of the ancient debate over how to determine the date of Easter. Only recently a sermon on the Passover was found, penned by Melito. It provides us with a tremendous insight into the theology of the late second century. I reproduce here just one section, which requires no commentary, only a hearty “Amen!”: And so he was lifted up upon a tree and an inscription was attached indicating who was being killed. Who was it? It is a grievous thing to tell, but a most fearful thing to refrain from telling. But listen, as you tremble before him on whose account the earth trembled! He who hung the earth in place is hanged. He who fixed the heavens in place is fixed in place. He who made all things fast is made fast on a tree. The Sovereign is insulted. God is murdered. The King of Israel is destroyed by an Israelite hand. This is the One who made the heavens and the earth, and formed mankind in the beginning, The One proclaimed by the Law and the Prophets, The One enfleshed in a virgin, The One hanged on a tree, The One buried in the earth, The One raised from the dead and who went up into the heights of heaven, The One sitting at the right hand of the Father, The One having all authority to judge and save, Through Whom the Father made the things which exist from the beginning of time. This One is “the Alpha and the Omega,” This One is “the beginning and the end” . . . the beginning indescribable and the end incomprehensible. This One is the Christ. This One is the King. This One is Jesus. This One is the Leader. This One is the Lord. This One is the One who rose from the dead. This One is the One sitting on the right hand of the Father. He bears the Father and is borne by the Father. “To him be the glory and the power forever. Amen.” The deity of Christ, His two natures, His virgin birth, His being the Creator, His distinction from the Father—all part and parcel of the preaching of the bishop of Sardis near the end of the second century. ~ James R White,

172:Her Star
When the heavens throb and vibrate
All along their silver veins,
To the mellow storm of music
Sweeping o'er the starry trains,
Heard by few, as erst by shepherds
On the far Chaldean plains:
Not the blazing, torch-like planets,
Not the Pleiads wild and free,
Not Arcturus, Mars, Uranus,
Bring the brightest dreams to me;
But I gaze in rapt devotion
On the central star of three.
Central star of three that tingle
In the balmy southern sky;
One above, and one below it,
Dreamily they pale and die,
As two lesser minds might dwindle,
When some great soul, passing by,
Stops, and reads their cherished secrets,
With a calm and godlike air,
Luring all their radiance from them
Leaving a dim twilight there,
Something vague, and half unreal,
Like the Alpha of despair.
Gazing thus, and holding converse
With the silence of my heart,
I would speak with famed Orion,
I would question it apart,
Wrest her love's strange secret from it,
If there's strength in human art.
And there come to me sweet whispers,
Half in answer, half in thought:'Be but strong, impassioned mortal!
Love will come to thee unsought;
36
Love is the divine Irene,It is given, and not bought.
[Transcriber's note: In the original book,
the e's in the 'Irene' in the above verse
were e-macrons, Unicode U+0113.]
Strong of heart. Be wise, be steadfast,
Learn, endeavour, and endure;
Blest with strength and light, in wisdom
Make the higher purpose sure;
Never can her heart receive thee
Till thine own is rendered pure.
I but shone in truth above her;
Psyche-like, she yearned to me,
And her soul, an Aphrodite,
Rose above the ether sea.
Love. Love should and will inherit
The divine Euphrosyne.'
When at night, the gleaming heavens
Throb through all their starry veins,
Oft I ponder on Orion,
And I hear celestial strains
Passing through my soul, and flooding
All its green immortal plains.
Then I pray for strength Promethean,
Pray for power to endure;
Then I say, O soul, be steadfast!
Make the lofty purpose sure;
And that love may be all-worthy,
God of heaven, make me pure!
~ Charles Sangster,

173:Okay, try this, ma’am,” Januscheitis said, setting down a shot glass with a clear liquid in it.

“What is this?” Faith said. She sniffed it and her nose wrinkled. “Seriously? A Marine has to drink?”

“Not has to, ma’am,” Januscheitis said. “Just interested. And it’s chilled vodka. Try it.”

Faith tossed back the drink as the assembled group watched with sneaky smiles.

“Okay, that’s not bad,” Faith said, shrugging.

“No reaction at all?” Paula said, looking shocked. “No coughing? No choking?”

“Was there supposed to be one?” Faith asked. She picked up the bottle, poured another shot and tossed it back. “There, happy?”

“Try this one… ” Sophia said, carefully, sliding across a shot of dark liquor.

“Ick,” Faith said. “That’s not so good. What was it?”

“Twenty-five-year-old Strathsclyde,” Sophia said.

“Which is?” Faith asked.

“Scotch, ma’am,” Januscheitis said. “Good scotch.”

“Tastes like piss,” Faith said. “Not that I’ve ever drunk piss. Okay, what else you got?”
Thirty minutes later there were a dozen bottles on the table and Faith had had at least one shot from each.

“Okay, rum’s pretty good,” she said, smacking her lips. “Not as good as Razzleberry tea but not bad.”

“She’s not even slightly drunk?” Derek slurred. He was, for sure.

“Isn’t it supposed to be doing something by now?” Faith asked, taking another shot of 151.
“I mean, I’d just finished seventh grade,” Faith said. “I’ve been to, like, two school dances! I’m never going to get to go to prom… ” She took another drink and frowned. “That sucks. That’s one of the reasons I hate fucking zombies. I’m never going to get to go to prom.”

“Marine corps ball, ma’am,” Januscheitis said. He’d stopped drinking when the LT started to get shit-faced. Which had taken enough straight booze to drown a Force Recon platoon. “Way better than prom.”

“Really?” Faith said.

“Really,” Derek said. “Marine Corps ball is like prom for Marines.”

“Christ, it’s coming up, isn’t it?” Januscheitis said. “Time’s sort of gotten to be one of those things you forget.”

“We gonna have one?” Derek said.

“Bet you,” Januscheitis said. “Gunny will insist. Probably use the Alpha or the Money.”

“That’d be cool,” Derek said, grinning. “Use the Alpha. Marine Corps ball on a megayacht captured from zombies? I can dig that. Besides it’s more trashed out. You know how ball gets… ”

“Semper fucking Fi,” Faith said. “I get to go to prom.”

“We’ll make sure of it, ma’am,” Januscheitis said.

“Great!” Faith slurred. “So why do I gotta puke? ~ John Ringo,

174:So which is more probable: That today's atheist apocalyptans are unique and right? Or that they are like their many predecessors—at the very least, in their motivations? If anything, the vehemence with which the believers in emergent complexity debunk all religion may betray their own creeping awareness of the religious underpinnings and precedents for their declarations.

In fact, the concept of Armageddon first emerged in response to the invention of monotheism by the ancient Persian priest Zoroaster, around the tenth or eleventh century BCE. Until that time, the dominant religions maintained a pantheon of gods reigning in a cyclical precession along with the heavens, so there was little need for absolutes. As religions began focusing on a single god, things got a bit trickier. For if there is only one god, and that god has absolute power, then why do bad things happen? Why does evil still exist?

If one's god is fighting for control of the universe against the gods of other people, then there's no problem. Just as in polytheism, the great achievements of one god can be undermined by the destructive acts of another. But what if a religion, such as Judaism of the First and Second Temple era, calls for one god and one god alone? How do its priests and followers explain the persistence of evil and suffering?

They do it the same way Zoroaster did: by introducing time into the equation. The imperfection of the universe is a product of its incompleteness. There's only one true god, but he's not done yet. In the monotheist version, the precession of the gods was no longer a continuous cycle of seasonal deities or metaphors. It was nor a linear story with a clear endpoint in the victory of the one true and literal god. Once this happens, time can end.

Creation is the Alpha, and the Return is the Omega. It's all good.

This worked well enough to assuage the anxieties of both the civilization of the calendar and that of the clock. But what about us? Without time, without a future, how to we contend with the lingering imperfections in our reality? As members of a monotheist culture—however reluctant—we can't help but seek to apply its foundational framework to our current dilemma. The less aware we are of this process—or the more we refuse to admit its legacy in our construction of new models—the more vulnerable we become to its excesses. Repression and extremism are two sides of the same coin.

In spite of their determination to avoid such constructs, even the most scientifically minded futurists apply the Alpha-Omega framework of messianic time to their upgraded apocalypse narratives. Emergence takes the place of the hand of God, mysteriously transforming a chaotic system into a self-organized one, with coherence and cooperation. Nobody seems able to explain how this actually happens. ~ Douglas Rushkoff,

175:Has he invited you to dinner, dear? Gifts, flowers, the usual?”
I had to put my cup down, because my hand was shaking too much. When I stopped laughing, I said, “Curran? He isn’t exactly Mr. Smooth. He handed me a bowl of soup, that’s as far as we got.”
“He fed you?” Raphael stopped rubbing Andrea.
“How did this happen?” Aunt B stared at me. “Be very specific, this is important.”
“He didn’t actually feed me. I was injured and he handed me a bowl of chicken soup. Actually I think he handed me two or three. And he called me an idiot.”
“Did you accept?” Aunt B asked.
“Yes, I was starving. Why are the three of you looking at me like that?”
“For crying out loud.” Andrea set her cup down, spilling some tea. “The Beast Lord’s feeding you soup. Think about that for a second.”
Raphael coughed. Aunt B leaned forward. “Was there anybody else in the room?”
“No. He chased everyone out.”
Raphael nodded. “At least he hasn’t gone public yet.”
“He might never,” Andrea said. “It would jeopardize her position with the Order.”
Aunt B’s face was grave. “It doesn’t go past this room. You hear me, Raphael? No gossip, no pillow talk, not a word. We don’t want any trouble with Curran.”
“If you don’t explain it all to me, I will strangle somebody.” Of course, Raphael might like that . . .
“Food has a special significance,” Aunt D said.
I nodded. “Food indicates hierarchy. Nobody eats before the alpha, unless permission is given, and no alpha eats in Curran’s presence until Curran takes a bite.”
“There is more,” Aunt B said. “Animals express love through food. When a cat loves you, he’ll leave dead mice on your porch, because you’re a lousy hunter and he wants to take care of you. When a shapeshifter boy likes a girl, he’ll bring her food and if she likes him back, she might make him lunch. When Curran wants to show interest in a woman, he buys her dinner.”
“In public,” Raphael added, “the shapeshifter fathers always put the first bite on the plates of their wives and children. It signals that if someone wants to challenge the wife or the child, they would have to challenge the male first.”
“If you put all of Curran’s girls together, you could have a parade,” Aunt B said. “But I’ve never seen him physically put food into a woman’s hands. He’s a very private man, so he might have done it in an intimate moment, but I would’ve found out eventually. Something like that doesn’t stay hidden in the Keep. Do you understand now? That’s a sign of a very serious interest, dear.”
“But I didn’t know what it meant!”
Aunt B frowned. “Doesn’t matter. You need to be very careful right now. When Curran wants something, he doesn’t become distracted. He goes after it and he doesn’t stop until he obtains his goal no matter what it takes. That tenacity is what makes him an alpha.”
“You’re scaring me.”
“Scared might be too strong a word, but in your place, I would definitely be concerned.”
I wished I were back home, where I could get to my bottle of sangria. This clearly counted as a dire emergency.
As if reading my thoughts, Aunt B rose, took a small bottle from a cabinet, and poured me a shot. I took it, and drained it in one gulp, letting tequila slide down my throat like liquid fire.
“Feel better?”
“It helped.” Curran had driven me to drinking. At least I wasn’t contemplating suicide. ~ Ilona Andrews,

176:Where is everybody?”
“Hiding,” she said. “Except for Doolittle. He was excused from the chewing-out due to having been kidnapped. He’s napping now like he doesn’t have a care in the world. I got to hear all sorts of interesting stuff through the door.”
“Give.”
She shot me a sly smile. “First, I got to listen to Jim’s ‘it’s all my fault; I did it all by myself’ speech. Then I got to listen to Derek’s ‘it’s all my fault and I did it all by myself’ speech. Then Curran promised that the next person who wanted to be a martyr would get to be one. Then Raphael made a very growling speech about how he was here for a blood debt. It was his right to have restitution for the injury caused to the friend of the boudas; it was in the damn clan charter on such and such page. And if Curran wanted to have an issue with it, they could take it outside. It was terribly dramatic and ridiculous. I loved it.”
I could actually picture Curran sitting there, his hand on his forehead above his closed eyes, growling quietly in his throat.
“Then Dali told him that she was sick and tired of being treated like she was made out of glass and she wanted blood and to kick ass.”
That would do him in. “So what did he say?”
“He didn’t say anything for about a minute and then he chewed them out. He told Derek that he’d been irresponsible with Livie’s life, and that if he was going to rescue somebody, the least he could do is to have a workable plan, instead of a poorly thought-out mess that backfired and broke just about every Pack law and got his face smashed in. He told Dali that if she wanted to be taken seriously, she had to accept responsibility for her own actions instead of pretending to be weak and helpless every time she got in trouble and that this was definitely not the venue to prove one’s toughness. Apparently he didn’t think her behavior was cute when she was fifteen and he’s not inclined to tolerate it now that she’s twenty-eight.”
I was cracking up.
“He told Raphael that the blood debt overrode Pack law only in cases of murder or life-threatening injury and quoted the page of the clan charter and the section number where that could be found. He said that frivolous challenges to the alpha also violated Pack law and were punishable by isolation. It was an awesome smackdown. They had no asses left when he was done.”
Andrea began snapping the gun parts together. “Then he sentenced the three of them and himself to eight weeks of hard labor, building the north wing addition to the Keep, and dismissed them. They ran out of there like their hair was on fire.”
“He sentenced himself?”
“He’s broken Pack law by participating in our silliness, apparently.”
That’s Beast Lord for you. “And Jim?”
“Oh, he got a special chewing-out after everybody else was dismissed. It was a very quiet and angry conversation, and I didn’t hear most of it. I heard the end, though—he got three months of Keep building. Also, when he opened the door to leave, Curran told him very casually that if Jim wanted to pick fights with his future mate, he was welcome to do so, but he should keep in mind that Curran wouldn’t come and rescue him when you beat his ass. You should’ve seen Jim’s face.”
“His what?”
“His mate. M-A-T-E.”
I cursed.
Andrea grinned. “I thought that would make your day. And now you’re stuck with him in here for three days and you get to fight together in the Arena. It’s so romantic. Like a honeymoon.”
Once again my mental conditioning came in handy. I didn’t strangle her on the spot. ~ Ilona Andrews,

177:Another howl ruptured the quiet, still too far away to be a threat. The Beast Lord, the leader, the alpha male, had to enforce his position as much by will as by physical force. He would have to answer any challenges to his rule, so it was unlikely that he turned into a wolf. A wolf would have little chance against a cat. Wolves hunted in a pack, bleeding their victim and running them into exhaustion, while cats were solitary killing machines, designed to murder swiftly and with deadly precision. No, the Beast Lord would have to be a cat, a jaguar or a leopard. Perhaps a tiger, although all known cases of weretigers occurred in Asia and could be counted without involving toes.
I had heard a rumor of the Kodiak of Atlanta, a legend of an enormous, battle-scarred bear roaming the streets in search of Pack criminals. The Pack, like any social organization, had its lawbreakers. The Kodiak was their Executioner. Perhaps his Majesty turned into a bear. Damn. I should have brought some honey.
My left leg was tiring. I shifted from foot to foot . . .
A low, warning growl froze me in midmove. It came from the dark gaping hole in the building across the street and rolled through the ruins, awakening ancient memories of a time when humans were pathetic, hairless creatures cowering by the weak flame of the first fire and scanning the night with frightened eyes, for it held monstrous hungry killers. My subconscious screamed in panic. I held it in check and cracked my neck, slowly, one side then another.
A lean shadow flickered in the corner of my eye. On the left and above me a graceful jaguar stretched on the jutting block of concrete, an elegant statue encased in the liquid metal of moonlight.
Homo Panthera onca. The killer who takes its prey in a single bound.
Hello, Jim.
The jaguar looked at me with amber eyes. Feline lips stretched in a startlingly human smirk.
He could laugh if he wanted. He didn’t know what was at stake.
Jim turned his head and began washing his paw.
My saber firmly in hand, I marched across the street and stepped through the opening. The darkness swallowed me whole.
The lingering musky scent of a cat hit me. So, not a bear after all.
Where was he? I scanned the building, peering into the gloom. Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the walls, creating a mirage of twilight and complete darkness. I knew he was watching me. Enjoying himself.
Diplomacy was never my strong suit and my patience had run dry. I crouched and called out, “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.”
Two golden eyes ignited at the opposite wall. A shape stirred within the darkness and rose, carrying the eyes up and up and up until they towered above me. A single enormous paw moved into the moonlight, disturbing the dust on the filthy floor. Wicked claws shot forth and withdrew. A massive shoulder followed, its gray fur marked by faint smoky stripes. The huge body shifted forward, coming at me, and I lost my balance and fell on my ass into the dirt. Dear God, this wasn’t just a lion. This thing had to be at least five feet at the shoulder. And why was it striped?
The colossal cat circled me, half in the light, half in the shadow, the dark mane trembling as he moved. I scrambled to my feet and almost bumped into the gray muzzle. We looked at each other, the lion and I, our gazes level. Then I twisted around and began dusting off my jeans in a most undignified manner.
The lion vanished into a dark corner. A whisper of power pulsed through the room, tugging at my senses. If I did not know better, I would say that he had just changed.
“Kitty, kitty?” asked a level male voice.
I jumped. No shapechanger went from a beast into a human without a nap. Into a midform, yes, but beast-men had trouble talking.
“Yeah,” I said. “You’ve caught me unprepared. Next time I’ll bring cream and catnip toys.”
“If there is a next time. ~ Ilona Andrews,

*** WISDOM TROVE ***

*** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***

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* WISDOM TROVE *

* NEWFULLDB 2.4M *