David Brin

Quotes

1. Oh, there’s no high quite like getting the focused attention of powerful enemies. Nothing is better guaranteed to make you feel important in the world, which may be why conspiracy theories are so popular among frustrated underachievers.

   p. 400

2. 

   Fortunately, there is a famous inverse relation between fanaticism and competence.

   p. 64

3. 

   None of these problems resolved by the prescriptions of shamans and priests. Not by patronizing mystics or condescending monks.

   Technology. That’s what made things better! In fits and starts—and often horribly abused along the way—that’s where we found answers that were consistent, dependable, uncapricious. Answers that applied to lord and vassal alike. Answers that improved life across the board and never went away.

   p. 467

4. 

   Indignation is a drug that burns long and hot.

   p. 389

5. 

   The potentiality is evident to me now!

   Then what holds them back? Lack of faith? Divine judgment?

   No. Those old excuses won’t suffice. They never did. For where is the logic in basing salvation on a creator’s capricious whim or craving for praise? Or on prayer-incantations that vary from culture to culture? That’s not consistent or scientific. It’s not how the rest of nature works.

   p. 466

6. 

   And so the fighting retreat continues. Each time science advances, a new bastion forms…a new line, defining some remnant territory to be kept forever holy, mystical, and vague. Safe from profane hands. Until the next scientific advance, that is.

   p. 252

7. 

   Doing some thing you’re good at—what else can make you feel more genuinely human?

   p. 186

8. 

   Did you arrogantly expect that the entire universe was waiting upon man to arrive?

   p. 516

9. 

   “A hero is someone who gets the job done, Albert,” Clara once said. “Bravely when necessary. Courage is an admirable last resort, for when intelligence fails.”

   p. 389

10. 

    Secrets are like snowflakes, nowadays—rare and hard to keep for very long.

    p. 393

11. 

    Moralists can always justify going outside the law when it suits their sense of righteous timing.

    p. 176

12. 

    Technology keeps changing and the cams keep getting smaller. Only fools count on their secrets staying safe forever.

    p. 335