Jack Vance

Quotes

1. Jaro, my dear, there is no mystery about violence. It is the reflexive act of brutes, boors and moral defectives.

   p. 37

2. 

   I may be called upon to address the company. No one will listen, of course, which is just as well, since I have nothing to say.

   p. 954

3. 

   They meant no harm, of course; they wanted only that he be like themselves, which was the prerogative of all parents.

   p. 68

4. 

   He adjudicated the case in a manner I still find perplexing, but which must have been equitable, since it pleased no one.

   p. 967

5. 

   “My term of penitence is over and tomorrow I leave this dust hole and that sullen beast Arsloe behind—forever, or so I hope. I must take pains, of course, to avoid my previous faults.”

   “What did you do?” asked Gaing. “Did you—” and he coarsely suggested an act of sexual perversion committed upon the young daughter of the Chief Magistrate.

   “No, nothing like that. What I did was worse. I gave voice to unpopular opinions.”

   p. 223

6. 

   The mind was a marvellous instrument, thought Shimrod; when left to wander untended, it often arrived at curious destinations.

   p. 968

7. 

   Sacerdotal, religious or priest-dominated societies are like organisms with a cancer.

   p. 183

8. 

   One thing was certain: when someone searched into secret places, he often came up with things he would rather not have found.

   p. 81

9. 

   Rute showed Maihac a sour smile. “You seem to lack confidence in my integrity.”

   “You are wealthy,” said Maihac. “Your money did of the come to you because of your bonhomie.”

   p. 376

10. 

    Althea cried out in dismay: “Is that what you believe?”

    “In the absence of evidence I believe nothing,” said Dr. Fiorio.

    p. 58

11. 

    “You make very narrow distinctions.”

    “Of course! That is the nature of clear thinking.”

    p. 230

12. 

    I have transcended that phase in my intellectual growth where I discover humour in simple freakishness. What exists is real; therefore it is tragic, since wherever lives must die. Only fantasy, the vapours rising from sheer nonsense, can now excite my laughter.

    p. 430