The Oxford Murders Quotes
At Oxford University, a professor and a grad student work together to try to stop a potential series of murders seemingly linked by mathematical symbols.
Arthur Seldom: Since man is incapable of reconciling mind and matter, he tends to confer some sort of entity on ideas because he cannot bear the notion that the purely abstract only exists in our brain. "The beauty and harmony of a snowflake" - how sweet. "The butterfly that flutters his wings and causes a hurricane on the other side of the world" - we've been hearing about that damn butterfly for decades, but who has been able to predict a single hurricane? Nobody! Tell me something. Where is the beauty and harmony in cancer? What makes a cell suddenly decide to turn itself into a killer, metastasis and destroy the rest of the cells in a healthy body? Does anybody know? No! Because we'd rather think of snowflakes and butterflies than of pain, war, or that book. Why? Because we need to think that life has meaning, that everything is governed by logic and not by mere chance. If I write 2 then 4 then 6, then we feel good because we know that next comes 8. We can foresee it. We are not in the hands of destiny. Unfortunately, however, this has nothing to do with truth. Don't you agree? This is only fear. Sad... but there you go.
Martin: I believe in the number pi.
Arthur Seldom: I'm sorry, I didn't understand you. Uh, what was it you said you believed in?
Martin: In the number pi, in the golden section, the Fibonacci series. The essence of nature is mathematical. There is a hidden meaning beneath reality. Things are organized following a model, a scheme, a logical series. Even the tiny snowflake includes a numerical basis in its structure, therefore, if we manage to discover the secret meaning of numbers, we will know the secret meaning of reality.
Arthur Seldom: I'm sorry, I didn't understand you. Uh, what was it you said you believed in?
Martin: In the number pi, in the golden section, the Fibonacci series. The essence of nature is mathematical. There is a hidden meaning beneath reality. Things are organized following a model, a scheme, a logical series. Even the tiny snowflake includes a numerical basis in its structure, therefore, if we manage to discover the secret meaning of numbers, we will know the secret meaning of reality.
Arthur Seldom: Miss Scarlet is now an electron, okay? And you're looking at her through a keyhole or a particle accelerator - as you wish - and every time you look at her, Miss Scarlet will have changed her appearance or her position because the very fact that you observe her alters her atomic state. How about that?
Martin: Don't try to confuse me with tricks.
Martin: Don't try to confuse me with tricks.
Arthur Seldom: Poor old Guy Fawkes was ahead of his time. He tried to blow up the parliament, the king, lords, & the whole bloody government inside. Since then, every November the 5th we've had this civilized celebration where we burn his image... though nowadays I'd be hard pushed to tell you whether it's to commemorate his failure, or his brilliant idea.
