Larry Niven

The Gods do not protect fools. Fools are protected by more capable fools.

To witness titanic events is always dangerous, usually painful, and often fatal.

A thrint was master over every intelligent beast. This was the Powergiver’s primal decree, made before he made the stars. So said all of the twelve thrintun religions, though they fought insanely over other matters.

It’s damned embarrassing when you wake up with a girl and can’t remember her name.

Putting a monkey wrench in machinery is often the only way to force somebody to repair, replace, or redesign the machinery. Especially legal or social machinery.

I thought about it and got cold chills. Assassination is already a recognized branch of politics. If this got out—But that was the trouble; someone seemed to have thought of it already. If not, someone would. Someone always did.

Fear is the brother of hate.

When nobody gets rich, they call that a recession.

Tell them the universe is too complicated a toy for a sensibly cautious being to play with.