He was in no position to judge these people. So what if they felt sorry for themselves? Better to wallow in… — Ted Chiang

Humans have lived alongside parrots for thousands of years, and only recently have they considered the possibility that we might be intelligent.

I suppose I can’t blame them. We parrots used to think humans weren’t very bright. It’s hard to make sense of behavior that’s so different from your own.

Let me always be inquisitive, but never be suspicious.

When the public interest is involved, finding out what actually happened is important; justice is an essential part of the social contract, and you can’t have justice until you know the truth.