# Quote — Charles Sheffield, Between the Strokes of Night

> Earth has been regarded for centuries as a giant self-regulating machine, absorbing all changes, great and small, and diluting their effects until they become invisible on a global scale. Mankind has taken that stability for granted. Careless of consequences, we have watched as forests were cleared, lakes poisoned, rivers dammed and diverted, mountains leveled, whole plains dug out for their mineral and fuel content. And nothing disastrous happened. Earth tolerated the insults, and always she restored the status quo.
>
> Always—until now. Until finally some hidden critical point has been passed. The move away from a steady state is signalled in many ways: by increasing ocean temperatures, by drought and flood, by widespread loss of topsoil, by massive crop failure, and by the collapse of worldwide fishing industries.

- Author: [Charles Sheffield](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield.md)
- Book: [Between the Strokes of Night](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/between-the-strokes-of-night.md)
- Page: 69
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Sheffield#Between_the_Strokes_of_Night_(1985)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/between-the-strokes-of-night/earth-has-been

## More from this book

> A long time ago humans talked of terraforming Mars and Venus, but we never did it. Just too busy blowing ourselves up, I guess, ever to get round to it.

p. 322 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/between-the-strokes-of-night/a-long-time.md)

> “I’ve been testing Kallen’s Law—my name for it, not his. Remember what he said? ‘Anything that can be put into a data bank by one person can be taken out of it by another, if you’re smart enough and have enough time.’ That’s one problem with a computer-based society, and one reason why computers were so tightly controlled on Pentecost: it’s almost impossible to prevent access to computer-stored information.”

p. 289 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/between-the-strokes-of-night/ive-been-testing.md)

> “My aunt doesn’t even believe there is a Ship. She says we’ve been here on Pentecost forever.”
>
> “What did you tell her?”
>
> “Nothing. For someone with that view, logic is irrelevant—she’ll believe what she chooses, regardless of evidence. Her religion says God placed us here on Pentecost, and for her that’s the end of the argument.”
>
> “And you?” Peron was aware that she had moved in very close to him. “What do you think?”
>
> “You know what I think. I’m cursed with a logical mind, and a lot of curiosity.”

p. 145 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/between-the-strokes-of-night/my-aunt-doesnt.md)