David Brin

Quotes

1. You don’t have conversations with microprocessors. You tell them what to do, then helplessly watch the disaster when they take you literally!

   p. 238

2. 

   Apparently, the Fates were not so unsubtle as to deal him another blow just yet. He knew they didn’t operate that way. They always let you hope for a while longer, then strung it out before they really let you have it.

   p. 68

3. 

   He was, after all, a diplomat, and understood that the best and firmest deals are based on open self-interest.

   p. 525

4. 

   “They accepted warriors...” he emphasized, “...That divinely mad type that’s so valuable when needed, and such a problem when it’s not.”

   p. 298

5. 

   It’s said that “power corrupts,” but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable.

   p. 267

6. 

   Petals floating by, Drift through my woman’s hand, As she remembers me.

   p. 418

7. 

   Blatant idiocies had been tried by early men and women—foolishness that would never have been considered by species aware of the laws of nature. Desperate superstitions had bred during the savage centuries. Styles of government, intrigues, philosophies were tested with abandon. It was almost as if Orphan Earth had been a planetary laboratory, upon which a series of senseless and bizarre experiments were tried.

   p. 141

8. 

   The same was true of the most popular girls. They had no empathy, no compassion for more normal kids.

   p. 66

9. 

   “How did he get away with pushing a book like this? How is it anyone ever believed him?”

   Gordon shrugged. “It was called ‘the Big Lie’ technique, Johnny. Just sound like you know what you’re talking about—as if you’re reciting facts. Talk very fast. Weave your lies into the shape of a conspiracy theory and repeat your assertions over and over again. Those who want an excuse to hate or blame—those with big but weak egos—will leap at a simple, neat explanation for the way the world is. Those types will never call you on the facts.”

   p. 255

10. 

    Survivalists. Gordon felt a wave of revulsion.

    p. 114

11. 

    Freedom was wonderful beyond relief. But with it came that bitch, Duty.

    p. 270

12. 

    Had I been wrong, this would still have been the honorable thing to do.

    I am very glad, however, to find out that I was right.

    p. 626