the grotesque hints at its own cure.

"But the grotesque hints at its own cure, the speculative creation otherwise known as 'hope.' We hope when the odds, no matter how good, are still that: odds, chance, a gamble in which the rules may change at any time, for any reason, with or without our acquiescence. We hope when we understand that circumstances are beyond our control, when will is not equal to effect, when we are not the subjects of a story but its objects. Hope isn't optimistic; it's the face of despair. My grandmother taught me that, not long before she died. 'Despair,' she said, was her favorite word. 'It's not a bad thing. It's a gift. A recognition.' It's the opposite of dread. Perception, not speculation. You accept the facts of your fate rather than reading them as evidence of a judgment or a moral. Some people might call that quitting."

- Jeff Sharlet (Born, Again)