# Quote — James Blish, The Quincunx of Time

> No exercise of will can make any of us other than what we are, or more than marginally better than who we are.

- Author: [James Blish](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-blish.md)
- Book: [The Quincunx of Time](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-blish/the-quincunx-of-time.md)
- Page: 118
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Blish#The_Quincunx_of_Time_(1973)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-blish/the-quincunx-of-time/no-exercise-of-will

## More from this book

> The technicians thought I was crazy. Now, five months later, I’ve proved it.

p. 72 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-blish/the-quincunx-of-time/the-technicians-thought.md)

> “Something tells me that this isn’t going to be as simple as it looks.”
>
> “What is?” Wald said, raising his eyebrows.
>
> “Nothing, of course. But hope springs eternal in the human spleen.”

p. 77 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-blish/the-quincunx-of-time/something-tells-me-that.md)

> He was getting to be a little old for combat or for princesses, but what was worse, he had become a lot more cynical without having become even slightly the wiser.

p. 18 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-blish/the-quincunx-of-time/he-was-getting.md)