161 quotes
Since women are better at producing babies, presumably Nature has given men some talent to compensate. But for the moment I can't think of it.
The Fountains of Paradise (1979)
Somewhere back at the beginning I was chosen to be Jester, and there is only one Jester at a time in Diaspar. Most people think that is one too many.
The City and the Stars (1956)
After all, it has yet to be proved that intelligence has real survival value.
Any teacher that can be replaced by a machine should be!
Electronic Tutors (1980)
When I was a boy, Brayldon, my old master once said that time could never destroy the truth—it could only hide it among legends. He was right.
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001)
The best efforts of human scientists in this direction seemed comparable to those of Stone Age men trying to break through the armour of a bank vault with flint axes.
It was good to be alive; it was better to be young; it was best of all to be in love.
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001)
What we need is a machine that will let us see the other guy’s point of view.
The Light of Other Days (2000)
SETI is probably the most important quest of our time, and it amazes me that governments and corporations are not supporting it sufficiently.
Seti@Home Donor List (2006)
The person one loves never really exists, but is a projection focused through the lens of the mind onto whatever screen it fits with least distortion.
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001)
We always thought the living earth was a thing of beauty. It isn’t. Life has had to learn to defend itself against the planet’s random geological savagery.
The Light of Other Days (2000)
There is the possibility that humankind can outgrow its infantile tendencies, as I suggested in Childhood's End. But it is amazing how childishly gullible humans are.
I am unable to distinguish clearly between your religious ceremonies and apparently identical behavior at the sporting and cultural functions you have transmitted to me.
The Fountains of Paradise (1979)
Years compress like fault lines in the mind. While everything else changes, the mind remembers exactly what it wants to remember. A decade can be lost and a year seem like forever.
Richter 10 (1996)
I'm sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It's just been too intelligent to come here.
Great art and domestic bliss are mutually incompatible. Sooner or later, you'll have to make your choice.
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001)
Now there are some forms of apparel that may be worn or discarded as the fancy pleases with no other ill effects than a possible loss of social prestige. But spacesuits are not among them.
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001)
If the artist did not know his goal, even the most miraculous of tools could not find it for him.
The City and the Stars (1956)
Eumenes showed little taste for elaborate protocols; he was far too intelligent for that.
Time's Eye (2003)
What was the use of wealth and power unless they could be used to shape one’s dreams?
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001)