9 quotes
All explorers are seeking something they have lost. It is seldom that they find it, and more seldom still that the attainment brings them greater happiness than the quest.
The City and the Stars (1956)
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)
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)
He had discharged his destiny; now, perhaps, he could begin to live.
The City and the Stars (1956)
There was only one thing of which he could be certain now. Boredom would not be a serious problem for a considerable time to come.
The City and the Stars (1956)
After a while Hilvar did his best to steer the conversation away from these meaningless morasses of theology in order to concentrate on the ascertainable facts.
The City and the Stars (1956)
There still remained, for all men to share, the linked worlds of love and art. Linked, because love without art is merely the slaking of desire, and art cannot be enjoyed unless it is approached with love.
The City and the Stars (1956)
It is not my duty as an historian to predict the future, only to observe and interpret the past. But its lesson is clear enough; we have lived too long out of contact with reality, and now the time has come to rebuild our lives.
The City and the Stars (1956)
Khedron was content with the order of things as it was. True, he might upset that order from time to time—but only by a little. He was a critic, not a revolutionary. On the placidly flowing river of time, he wished only to make a few ripples; he shrank from diverting its course.
The City and the Stars (1956)