It sounds rather silly, doesn’t it? One little man thinking he can change history all by his lonesome. A lot… — Poul Anderson

For the ordinary man, instability—change—means dislocation, war, uncertainty, misery, and death.

It isn’t possible to have equality. It’s been tried again and again in history, giving everybody a vote, and it’s always failed—always, in a few generations, the worse politicians drove out the better. Because by definition, half the people always have below-average intelligence; and the average is not high.

I am a peaceful man, captain. I rely more on my cerebral cortex than my guns.