Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
It can provide horrendous weapons to idiots.
If you want data to survive, carve it in rock.
Sometimes the cost of integrity is the loss of a friend.
The queen of virtues is the recognition of one's own flaws.
I've tried to quit writing several times, but I enjoy it too much.
How does it happen that the most intractable types always rise to the top?
There is nothing that overwhelms the senses quite like an unwelcome silence.
Solitude is only a good idea if you have the right people along to share it.
We could never know who we truly were until we heard the whispers of the stars.
Intelligence is like pornography. I can't define it, but I know if when I see it.
Show me what a people admire, and I will tell you everything about them that matters.
If you want creative and successful children, resign yourself to jousting with rebels.
Don't assume that a species is intelligent because it produces intelligent individuals.
Science fiction writers missed the most salient feature of our modern era: the Internet.
Boundaries have no existence save on charts or in small minds. Nature does not draw lines.
The measure of a civilization is in the courage, not of its soldiers, but of its bystanders.
If you're paying attention to your wardrobe, Rudy believed, your mind isn't sufficiently occupied.
But, come to think of it, there was no need to wait. Time travelers don't have to wait for anybody.
If you're right, and nobody really cares what's out there, I wonder whether we're even worth saving.
So long as you believe in some truth you do not believe in yourself. You are a servant. A man of faith.
... the truth is that when your people don't tell you what you need to know, it's a failure of leadership.
Katie commented that Americans had lost the ability to enjoy themselves. "We watch television," Dave said.
All of the important things ... will turn out to be universally shared. It's why there will be no true aliens.
One could not always put safety up front as the prime goal. Do that, and who would ever achieve anything of note?
Talking with most people usually involves a search for truth. Talking with congressmen is strictly special effects.
Truth, beaten down, may well rise again. But there's a reason it gets beaten down. Usually, we don't like it very much.
The cultures we can look at had already grasped the essential unity of nature. No board of gods can survive that knowledge.
The Peacekeepers had a tradition that every problem had a solution. It was a nice slogan. Wasn't true, but it sounded good.
Universal deities ... never seem to smile. Not in any culture. What's the point of having omnipotence if you don't enjoy it?
So we have progressed to the point where we can move politicians around faster than light. I'm not sure I see the advantage.
Decisions are always made with insufficient information. If you really knew what was going on, the decision would make itself.
The problem is that too often the only people who can act don't want change. Power doesn't so much corrupt as it breeds conservatism.
When I was teaching English and trying to get kids passionate about reading, the most effective weapon I had was 'The Martian Chronicles.'
One SF prediction that I would like very much to see: Get solar collectors launched to beam energy back home, and get away from fossil fuels.
I was once invited to attend a private dinner for Senator John F. Kennedy. But it was a Saturday evening, and I passed. Had better things to do.
Faith is conviction without evidence, and sometimes even in the face of contrary evidence. In some quarters, this quality is perceived as a virtue.
The secret to a successful career in virtually any field is good public relations. Forget results. Forget the facts. Perception is all that matters.
There is no justice. There are occasional acts of vengeance, or regret, but there's no real justice. In the natural scheme of things, it is not possible.
What would happen is that people like Geroge and Alyx would grow old and die chasing a dream. Although there were probably worse things to do with one's life.
The uplifters are forever running around telling blockheads they would do better if they would believe in themselves. But they already do. That is why they are blockheads.
It is not faith per se that creates the problem; it is conviction, the notion that one cannot be wrong, that opposing views are necessarily invalid and may even be intolerable.
Of course, they (i. e., demons) had always been observed with some regularity, but that could usually be ascribed to an overabundance of piety or wine or imagination. Take your pick.
Technological civilizations don't last long. You're all right until you get a printing press. Then a race starts between technology and common sense. And maybe technology always wins.
Man has always seen himself the peak of creation. The part of the universe that thinks. The purpose for it all. It's no doubt a gratifying view, but the universe may have a different opinion.
Tides are like politics. They come and go with a great deal of fuss and noise, but inevitably they leave the beach just as they found it. On those few occasions when major change does occur, it is rarely a good news.
There's not much to be said for sightseeing. You go somewhere that has a waterfall. You have a beer, watch the water go over the edge, and move on. Tours are all the same. In the end, the only thing that matters is the beer.
Life is a walk in the fog. Most people don't know that. They're fooled by the sunlight into thinking they can see what's ahead. But it's the reason they are forever getting lost or falling into ditches or committing matrimony.
When things go wrong, the standard management strategy is to decide who takes the blame. This should be an underling, as far down the chain as possible, but preferably with some visibility so people know management means business.
Idiots are not responsible for what they do. The real guilt falls on rational people who sit on their hands while morons run wild. You can opt out if you want to. Play it safe. But if you do, don't complain when the roof comes down.
People tend to believe that good fortune consists of equal parts talent, hard work, and sheer luck. It's hard to deny the roles of the latter two. As to talent, I would only say it consists primarily in finding the right moment to step in.