The ways of dead people are not our ways. They have a very oblique way of expressing themselves, and often they’ll tell you something that can be interpreted many ways; it gives them a way out while preserving their reputation for infallibility.

S. P. Somtow (b. 1952) Thai-American music composeer, conductor, author [Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul; สมเถา สุจริตกุล; Somthao Sucharitkun]

“Lottery Night,” World Fantasy Convention Program Book (1989-10)
    (Source)

Collected in Gardner Dozois, ed., Year's Best Science Fiction 7 (1990) and Somtow, Dragon's Fin Soup (1998).