# Quote — H. Beam Piper, The Complete Paratime

> “I wanted to know what sort of a madman—there are various kinds of madmen, all of whom must be handled differently—but all Hartenstein would tell me was that he had unrealistic beliefs about the state of affairs in Europe.”
>
> “Ha! What diplomat hasn’t?” I asked.

- Author: [H. Beam Piper](https://www.leafyquotes.com/h-beam-piper.md)
- Book: [The Complete Paratime](https://www.leafyquotes.com/h-beam-piper/the-complete-paratime.md)
- Page: 27
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/H._Beam_Piper#The_Complete_Paratime_(1947-1965)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/h-beam-piper/the-complete-paratime/i-wanted-to-know

## More from this book

> Alexandrian-Roman: off to a fine start with the pooling of Greek theory and Roman engineering talent, and then, a thousand years ago, two half-forgotten religions had been rummaged out of the dustbin and fanatics had begun massacring one another.

p. 250 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/h-beam-piper/the-complete-paratime/alexandrian-roman-off-to-a-fine.md)

> Politics is nothing but common action to secure more favorable living conditions.

p. 81 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/h-beam-piper/the-complete-paratime/politics-is-nothing.md)

> We define people as criminals when they suffer from psychological aberrations of an antisocial character, usually paranoid—excessive egoism, disregard for the rights of others, inability to recognize the social necessity for mutual cooperation and confidence.

p. 173 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/h-beam-piper/the-complete-paratime/we-define-people.md)