“First you have to give up. First you have to know, not fear, know that someday you’re going to die. It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.”

“There [they] found their way into actuality . . .”

“. . . the wise prophet conceals actuality behind shimmering labels . . . The best prophets lead you up to the curtain and let you peer through for yourself.”

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.”

“No; but you came, and found the riddles waiting for you! Indeed you are yourself the only riddle. What you call riddles are truths, and seem riddles because you are not true.”

“Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?”

“Well dreams, they feel real while we’re in them, right? It’s only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange.”