# Quote — Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey

> Deliberate error was unthinkable. Even the concealment of truth filled him with a sense of imperfection, of wrongness — of what, in a human being, would have been called guilt. For like his makers, Hal had been created innocent; but, all too soon, a snake had entered his electronic Eden.
>
> For the last hundred million miles, he had been brooding over the secret he could not share with Poole and Bowman…who would not learn the mission's full purpose, until there was need to know. So ran the logic of the planners; but their twin gods of Security and National Interest meant nothing to Hal. He was only aware of the conflict that was slowly destroying his integrity.

- Author: [Arthur C. Clarke](https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke.md)
- Book: [2001: A Space Odyssey](https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/2001-a-space-odyssey.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(novel)#IV._Abyss) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/2001-a-space-odyssey/deliberate-error-was

## More from this book

> Could any technology, no matter how advanced, bridge the awful gulf what lay between the Solar System and the nearest alien sun? Many scientists flatly denied the possibility.
>
> A vocal minority refused to agree. Even if it took centuries to travel from star to star, they contended, this might be no obstacle to sufficiently determined explorers…In any event, why should one assume that all intelligent species were as short-lived as Man? There might be creatures in the universe to whom a thousand-year voyage would present nothing worse than slight boredom.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/2001-a-space-odyssey/could-any-technology.md)

> Fifty years ago, Bowman would have been considered a specialist in applied astronomy, cybernetics, and space propulsion systems — yet he was prone to deny, with genuine indignation, that he was a specialist at all. Bowman had never found it possible to focus his interest exclusively on any subject; despite the dark warnings of his instructors, he had insisted on taking his Master's degree in General Astronautics — a course with a vague and woolly syllabus, designed for those whose IQs were in the low 130s and who would never reach the top ranks of their profession.
>
> His decision had been right; that very refusal to specialize had made him uniquely qualified for his present task.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/2001-a-space-odyssey/fifty-years-ago.md)

> Although Bowman was nominal Captain on this phase of the mission, no outside observer could have deduced the fact. He and Poole switched roles, rank, and responsibilities completely every twelve hours. This kept them both at peak training, minimized the chances of friction, and helped toward the goal of 100 percent redundancy.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/2001-a-space-odyssey/although-bowman-was.md)