296 quotes
If religions are diseases of the human psyche, as the philosopher Grintholde asserts, then religious wars must be reckoned the resultant sores and cankers infecting the aggregate corpus of the human race. Of all wars, these are the most detestable, since they are waged for no tangible gain, but only to impose a set of arbitrary credos upon another’s mind.
Demon Princes (1964)
“My father says I have too much curiosity for my own good.”
Captain Henshaw chuckled. “He’s wrong there; too much curiosity never hurt anyone. When a boy has too little, that’s the time to start worrying.”
Vandals of the Void (1953)
He looked around the landscape. Drenched in the golden haze of late afternoon it seemed wonderfully tranquil and beautiful, though permeated with a sense of remoteness and even melancholy, like a scene remembered from one’s youth.
Space Opera (1965)
“Do you still think I’m crazy?”
Her glance went to his left shoulder. “I’m not well enough acquainted with the norm of your people to judge.”
Barch rose to his feet. He said thickly, “About ten more minutes of double talk, I actually would be crazy.”
Slaves of the Klau (1958)
“Crime occurs when the social structure is in itself inattentive and unwieldy,” she added offhandedly, “when the culture provides no scope for fulfillment.”
The Augmented Agent and Other Stories (1986)
If the study of human interactions could become a science, I suspect that an inviolate axiom might be discovered to this effect: Every social disposition creates a disparity of advantages. Further: Every innovation designed to correct the disparities, no matter how altruistic in concept, works only to create a new and different set of disparities.
Durdane series (1971)
His decision was preordained, and derived from a perverse quirk in his mentality. At his deepest, most essential level, Hack knew himself for an insipid mediocrity, of no intellectual distinction and no particular competence in any direction. This was an insight so shocking that Hack never allowed it past the threshold of consciousness, and he conducted himself as if the reverse were true.
The Augmented Agent and Other Stories (1986)
“What’s the trouble? Given up?”
“What is there to give up?”
“Confidence.”
She said in a soft voice, “We’re slaves; slaves have no need for confidence.”
“I’m not a slave until I feel like a slave.”
Slaves of the Klau (1958)
The merchant voiced an inarticulate protest. Glystra glared at him, “Do you think I trust you?”
“Trust?” said the merchant with a puzzled expression. “Trust? What word is that?” And he tested it several times more.
Big Planet (1957)
How to know, oh how to know! All is relative ease and facility in orthodoxy, yet how can it be denied that good is in itself undeniable? Absolutes are the most uncertain of all formulations, while the uncertainties are the most real...
The Dragon Masters (1962)
Deeming the unsubstantiated dogma of a localized religious cult to be an undignified and unsuitable base on which to erect the chronology of galactic man, the members of this convention hereby declare that time shall now be reckoned from the year 2000 A.D. (Old System), which becomes the year 0. The revolution of Earth about Sol remains the standard annual unit.
Demon Princes (1964)
“It goes to demonstrate,” said Reith, “that you can’t judge a man by the table he sets.”
Cauch asked shrewdly, “How then can a man judge his fellows? For example, what is the basis of your calculation?”
“Only one thing I know for certain,” said Reith. “First thoughts are always wrong.”
Planet of Adventure (1968)
“I would define ‘avarice’ as a consequence of the human estate: a condition arising from turbulence and inequality. In none of the paradises, where conditions are no doubt optimum, does ‘avarice’ exert force. Here, we are men struggling toward perfection and ‘avarice’ is a station along the way.”
Lyonesse Trilogy (1983)
Ah! Five hundred years I have toiled to entice this creature, despairing, doubting, brooding by night, yet never abandoning hope that my calculations were accurate and my great talisman cogent. Then, when finally it appears, you fall upon it for no other reason than to sate your repulsive gluttony!
Dying Earth (1950)
Drowsing in the warmth, Etzwane could find no occasion for haste; indeed, the prospect of docking the boat and stepping ashore aroused in him a curious mood of melancholy. The adventure would then be definitely finished; for all its misery and black despair, he had lived to his utmost capacity; he had augmented and enriched his life.
Durdane series (1971)
There are also those who, like the author, ensconce themselves on a thunderous crag of omniscience, and with protestations of humility which are either unconvincing or totally absent, assume the obligation of appraisal, commendation, derogation or denunciation of their contemporaries. Still, by and large it is an easier job than digging a ditch.
Demon Princes (1964)
Banish Evil from the world? Nonsense! Encourage it, foster it, sponsor it. The world owes Evil a debt beyond imagination. Think! Without greed ambition falters. Without vanity art becomes idle musing. Without cruelty benevolence lapses to passivity. Superstition has shamed man into self-reliance and, without stupidity, where would be the savor of superior understanding?
The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph (1966)
Gambling, in the ultimate study, stems from the passive, the submissive, the irresponsible in human nature; the gambler is one of an inferior lickspittle breed who turns himself belly-upward to the capricious deeds of Luck. Examine now the man of strength and action: he is never led by destiny. He drives on a decided course, manipulates the variables, and instead of submitting to the ordained shape of his life, creates a pattern to his own design.
Sanatoris Short-Cut (1948)
“I’m not sure. There’s not much I can do. Unless—” he hesitated.
“Unless what?”
“Unless I make an underwater survey myself.”
Damon was appalled. “What do you hope to gain by that?”
Fletcher smiled. “If I knew, I wouldn’t need to go.”
Future Tense (1964)
They call me a renegade.
The epithet is inaccurate and undeserved. I cannot be faithless to a cause which I never have endorsed. Indeed, I am absolutely faithful to the only cause I espouse, which is my own welfare. I take pride in this unswerving loyalty!
Lyonesse Trilogy (1983)