# Quote — Jack Vance, The Star King

> There are also those who, like the author, ensconce themselves on a thunderous crag of omniscience, and with protestations of humility which are either unconvincing or totally absent, assume the obligation of appraisal, commendation, derogation or denunciation of their contemporaries. Still, by and large it is an easier job than digging a ditch.

- Author: [Jack Vance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance.md)
- Book: [The Star King](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance/the-star-king.md)
- Page: 59
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_Vance#The_Star_King_(1964)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance/the-star-king/there-are-also

## More from this book

> “Beauty comes in often to drink. A spaceman, he claims himself, but as to this I can’t be certain. I have often declared myself a great lover. All of us lie, as much or more than necessary. ‘What is truth?’ asks Pons Pilatus, in the fable, and I answer: ‘A commodity as cheap as air which we hide as if it were as precious as yewl stone.’”

p. 107 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance/the-star-king/beauty-comes-in-often.md)

> Motto of the Institute: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing; a great deal of knowledge is disaster, which detractors of the Institute scornfully paraphrase to: Somebody else’s ignorance is bliss.

p. 83 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance/the-star-king/motto-of-the.md)

> “Everyone is the same,” he told himself. “Anxious to arrive and, when they leave, wondering why they came.”

p. 37 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance/the-star-king/everyone-is-the.md)