{
  "type": "author",
  "site": {
    "name": "Leafy Quotes",
    "language": "en",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com"
  },
  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "name": "Poul Anderson",
  "slug": "poul-anderson",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson.md",
  "image": null,
  "quotes_count": 80,
  "books": [
    {
      "title": "Brain Wave",
      "slug": "brain-wave",
      "quotes_count": 4,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/gateway/poul-anderson/brain-wave_978-05-7510-906-3.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/brain-wave"
    },
    {
      "title": "Ensign Flandry",
      "slug": "ensign-flandry",
      "quotes_count": 1,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/gateway/poul-anderson/ensign-flandry_978-05-7510-880-6.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/ensign-flandry"
    },
    {
      "title": "Tau Zero",
      "slug": "tau-zero",
      "quotes_count": 1,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/gateway/poul-anderson/tau-zero_978-05-7508-804-7.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/tau-zero"
    },
    {
      "title": "The Boat of a Million Years",
      "slug": "the-boat-of-a-million-years",
      "quotes_count": 25,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/gateway/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years_978-05-7510-927-8.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years"
    },
    {
      "title": "The Broken Sword",
      "slug": "the-broken-sword",
      "quotes_count": 6,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/gollancz/poul-anderson/the-broken-sword_978-14-7320-544-4.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-broken-sword"
    },
    {
      "title": "The Corridors of Time",
      "slug": "the-corridors-of-time",
      "quotes_count": 3,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/gateway/poul-anderson/the-corridors-of-time_978-05-7510-915-5.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-corridors-of-time"
    },
    {
      "title": "The Enemy Stars",
      "slug": "the-enemy-stars",
      "quotes_count": 10,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/gateway/poul-anderson/the-enemy-stars_978-05-7510-910-0.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-enemy-stars"
    },
    {
      "title": "The Long Way Home",
      "slug": "the-long-way-home",
      "quotes_count": 6,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/gateway/poul-anderson/the-long-way-home_978-05-7510-908-7.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-long-way-home"
    },
    {
      "title": "The People of the Wind",
      "slug": "the-people-of-the-wind",
      "quotes_count": 3,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/gateway/poul-anderson/the-people-of-the-wind_978-05-7510-879-0.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-people-of-the-wind"
    },
    {
      "title": "The Star Fox",
      "slug": "the-star-fox",
      "quotes_count": 2,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/gateway/poul-anderson/the-star-fox_978-05-7510-916-2.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-star-fox"
    },
    {
      "title": "There Will Be Time",
      "slug": "there-will-be-time",
      "quotes_count": 14,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/gateway/poul-anderson/there-will-be-time_978-05-7510-921-6.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/there-will-be-time"
    },
    {
      "title": "Vault of the Ages",
      "slug": "vault-of-the-ages",
      "quotes_count": 5,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/gateway/poul-anderson/vault-of-the-ages_978-05-7510-903-2.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/vault-of-the-ages"
    }
  ],
  "recent_quotes": [
    {
      "id": "fbc238e1-93ce-4a6f-b5f6-463393640976",
      "slug": "it-would-annoy",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/it-would-annoy",
      "text": "It would annoy me less that we’re heading into a new puritanical era if the puritanism concerned itself about things that matter.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 330,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "morality",
          "slug": "morality",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48"
    },
    {
      "id": "dd9f2e6b-c258-4f57-b6d7-16fba08f13eb",
      "slug": "i-also-know",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/i-also-know",
      "text": "I also know you cannot pick and choose. Change is a medicine bundle. You must refuse it altogether, or take the whole thing.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 215,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "change",
          "slug": "change",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/change"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48"
    },
    {
      "id": "ce755f05-14af-4161-9be4-6dee46ca6267",
      "slug": "think-you-have",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/think-you-have",
      "text": "Think. You have had your dealings with our bureaucracy. It is impossible not to, especially if one is a foreigner. Believe me, when we set our minds to it we can tangle, obstruct, and bring to a dead halt a herd of stampeding elephants.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 291,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "bureaucracy",
          "slug": "bureaucracy",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/bureaucracy"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48"
    },
    {
      "id": "b3dcda51-06c8-4067-afd7-bd3917876336",
      "slug": "absolute-proof-of-absolute",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/absolute-proof-of-absolute",
      "text": "Absolute proof of absolute knowledge is impossible.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 426,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "knowledge",
          "slug": "knowledge",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/knowledge"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48"
    },
    {
      "id": "9dbf303d-e7ed-41de-8bfa-a80be1237256",
      "slug": "evolution-is-cut-and-try",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/evolution-is-cut-and-try",
      "text": "“Evolution is cut-and-try. If I may anthropomorphize,” he added. “Often it’s hard not to.”",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 333,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "evolution",
          "slug": "evolution",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evolution"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48"
    },
    {
      "id": "97c85ec8-eb2e-4aad-882f-91bf028a95c7",
      "slug": "we-do-need",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/we-do-need",
      "text": "“We do need something to lift us out of ourselves. It’s wrong to carry our pettinesses along to the stars.”\n\n“We will, though,” he said. “We can’t help it. How do you escape being what you are?”",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 438,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "human nature",
          "slug": "human-nature",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48"
    },
    {
      "id": "77bc153e-aa58-4ff6-9638-e4981bc29b60",
      "slug": "we-russians-have",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/we-russians-have",
      "text": "We Russians have learned to fear anarchy above all else. We would rather have tyranny than it. Hanno, you do wrong to look on people’s republics, strong governments of every kind, as always evil. Freedom is perhaps better, but chaos is worse.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 396,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "freedom",
          "slug": "freedom",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom"
        },
        {
          "name": "tyranny",
          "slug": "tyranny",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/tyranny"
        },
        {
          "name": "chaos",
          "slug": "chaos",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/chaos"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48"
    },
    {
      "id": "671d5cd7-c428-4ecc-a2a2-bec754b86783",
      "slug": "well-everybody-got",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/well-everybody-got",
      "text": "Well, everybody got stupid now and then, especially in war.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 306,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "war",
          "slug": "war",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war"
        },
        {
          "name": "stupidity",
          "slug": "stupidity",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/stupidity"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48"
    },
    {
      "id": "60255319-2c9b-4f3f-9619-bda84d4a6bfe",
      "slug": "i-seek-occasional",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/i-seek-occasional",
      "text": "I seek occasional relief in old books. They help me tell the transient from the enduring.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 291,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "reading",
          "slug": "reading",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48"
    },
    {
      "id": "58ce70ff-d4b9-4f38-aaab-12825f923231",
      "slug": "i-never-set",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/i-never-set",
      "text": "I never set myself up as a prophet. Those crazy preachers have been the death of thousands, and the end is not yet.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 254,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "fanaticism",
          "slug": "fanaticism",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fanaticism"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48"
    },
    {
      "id": "55ce4abd-07a4-41c4-8528-caacbfcaf12d",
      "slug": "government-of-the",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/government-of-the",
      "text": "“‘Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.’ Yeah, trouble is, the three classes of people aren’t the same.”",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 336,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "irony",
          "slug": "irony",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/irony"
        },
        {
          "name": "democracy",
          "slug": "democracy",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/democracy"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48"
    },
    {
      "id": "44a67bdf-a50e-44a5-ba18-2c5c2055cc11",
      "slug": "whats-the-point",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/whats-the-point",
      "text": "What’s the point of our living all these centuries if we haven’t grown up even a little?",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 482,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "growing up",
          "slug": "growing-up",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/growing-up"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48"
    }
  ]
}