Isaac Asimov Quotes

1920–1992 United States

Isaac Asimov (c. 2 January 1920 – 6 April 1992) was a Russian-born American biochemist who was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction. His works include the Foundation series and I, Robot.

United States
Essayists
Humorists
Memoirists
Novelists

Also known as: Asimov, Asimov, Isaac, Isaac asimov, The Foundation Series

Random Isaac Asimov quote

336 quotes

Generals are usually a conservative force who can be relied on to oppose social change.

The Egyptians (1967)

Junz found revulsion growing strong within him. A planet full of people meant nothing against the dictates of economic necessity!

Empire novels (1950)

In my fiction I am careful to make everything probable and to tie up all loose ends. Real life is not hampered by such considerations.

Puzzles of the Black Widowers (1984)

Ideas are cheap. It's only what you do with them that counts.

The Secrets of the Universe (1989)

In memory yet green, in joy still felt,
The scenes of life rise sharply into view.
We triumph; Life’s disasters are undealt,
And while all else is old, the world is new.

The fact is that I've never called myself a genius, and I think the term has been cheapened by overuse into meaninglessness. If other people want to call me that, that's their problem.

In Joy Still Felt (1980)

There's something about a pious man such as he. He will cheerfully cut your throat if it suits him, but he will hesitate to endanger the welfare of your immaterial and problematical soul.

The Foundation series (1951)

“My field of specialization is the mathematical analysis of social structure.”
“Sounds horrible.”

The Foundation series (1951)

He believes in that mummery a good deal less than I do, and I don't believe in it at all.

The Foundation series (1951)

It was easy to cover up ignorance by the mystical word “intuition.”

The Foundation series (1951)

Printing will tell you such useful things and such interesting things that not being able to read would be as bad as not being able to see.

The Complete Stories, Volume 1 (1990)

Anything could be found in figures if the search were long enough and hard enough and if the proper pieces of information were ignored or overlooked.

Robot series (1950)

Goodbye, friend Elijiah, and remember that, although people apply the phrase to Aurora, it is, from this point on, Earth itself that is the true World of the Dawn.

Robot series (1950)

There has never been any custom, however useless it may become with changing conditions, that isn't clung to desperately simply because it is something old and familiar.

The Dark Ages (1968)

First, there must be an end to war and national rivalry and only then could one turn to the internal miseries that, after all, had external conflict as their chief cause.

Empire novels (1950)

“Arrange for the statue to come to life while we are watching, and make sure that it is terribly in love with Elderberry.”
“Love is easy. That’s just a matter of adjusting hormones.”

Azazel (1988)

“Why didn’t people just use a computer?”
“That was before they had computers,” cried Paul.
“Before?”
“Sure. Do you think people always had computers? Didn’t you ever hear of cavemen?”

The Complete Stories, Volume 1 (1990)

When an old person dies who has been a part of your life, it is part of your youth that dies. And though you survive yourself, you must watch death take away the world of your youth, little by little.

I. Asimov: A Memoir (1994)

You wait for the war to happen like vultures. If you want to help, prevent the war.

There's nothing like deduction. We've determined everything about our problem but the solution.

Robot series (1950)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Isaac Asimov (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.