183 quotes
They had hardly ever spoken of her life before the the day they met in Belém. It was what they had both agreed on, a relationship built on a solid foundation of mutual ignorance.
On the Steel Breeze (2013)
Volyova did not like planets at the best of times, and gas giants struck her as an unreasonable affront to human scale and frailty. In that respect, they were almost as bad as stars.
Redemption Ark (2002)
We were sowing so much misinformation that some of it came back and bit us.
House of Suns (2008)
“I’m not a bad man, Ilia. I’m just someone who knows exactly what needs to be done.”
“Like you said, always the most dangerous sort.”
Redemption Ark (2002)
“It must be a real one-horse town.”
Auger shook her head as she lit a cigarette. “It has wild ambitions of becoming a one-horse town.”
Century Rain (2004)
I wish there was something we could do. But organised structure is the most precious thing in the universe. When it is lost, it is truly lost.
Pushing Ice (2005)
“I don’t know.” That was typical Sajaki; like all the genuinely clever people Sylveste had met he knew better than to feign understanding where none existed.
Revelation Space (2000)
“The question is: do you trust me?”
“Sometimes.”
Bella smiled. “That’s exactly the right attitude: trust your leaders, but be careful not to trust them too much.”
Pushing Ice (2005)
“For all you know, no one even remembers what you did by now.”
“No one remembers anything, in the end.”
Poseidon's Wake (2015)
There was something about the cocksure confidence of that statement that gave Auger goose pimples. It was like an invitation to fate.
Century Rain (2004)
Charm was what he excelled at. If anyone sensed his underlying shallowness, they usually mistook it for well-hidden great depth of character, like misinterpreting a radar bounce.
Century Rain (2004)
“Imagine a permanent, shivering gloom, and never a moment without hunger, thirst and exhaustion. Imagine the constant fear of suffering illness or injury.”
“You’ve just described nine-tenths of human history.”
Belladonna Nights and Other Stories (2021)
“Don’t tell me you aren’t the slightest bit curious, Norquinco.”
“I hope you burn in hell, Sky Haussmann.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Chasm City (2001)
“Can I still wish you good luck?”
“You can wish me what the hell you like. It won’t make any difference. If it did, it would mean I hadn’t prepared well enough.
Redemption Ark (2002)
That was the universe: you could beat it once, you could float a message in a bottle across half of eternity, but the universe would always find a way to have the last laugh.
Pushing Ice (2005)
“I worry that it’s me they’re really after.”
“You don’t exist. At the risk of wounding your ego, not everyone in the known universe is obsessed with you and your secret history.”
Blue Remembered Earth (2012)
“Until recently we were a trio. Before that, a quartet. Perhaps it’s just me, but I’m beginning to detect a trend.”
Century Rain (2004)
The only thing driving us on was greed.
Fucking greed. The only thing in the universe stronger than fear.
Beyond the Aquila Rift (2016)
No one ever took music away from me, but I’m damned if it ever sounds quite as good as it used to when I was twenty.
Century Rain (2004)
“Nothing he said indicated that he was that angry. I mean, there’s a difference between angry and murderous. Isn’t there?”
“Less than you’d think.”
The Prefect (2007)