39 quotes
Human interactions, stimulated as they are by disequilibrium, never achieve balance. In even the most favorable transaction, one party—whether he realizes it or not—must always come out the worse.
Dying Earth (1950)
And, stretching in languid warmth, she contrived to twist her body into first one luxurious position, then another.
Dying Earth (1950)
Until work has reached its previous stage nympharium privileges are denied to all.
Dying Earth (1950)
"All is mutability, and thus your three hundred terces has fluctuated to three."
Dying Earth (1950)
Ildefonse said ponderously: "If your analysis is correct, we must undertake to secure the future against this pangynic nightmare."
Dying Earth (1950)
It is useless, after all, to complain against inexorable reality.
Dying Earth (1950)
An inch of foreknowledge is worth ten miles of after-thought.
Dying Earth (1950)
"My clever baton holds your unnatural sorcery in abeyance."
Dying Earth (1950)
We need no chieftain; such folk eat more than their share.
Dying Earth (1950)
I give dignity second place to expedience.
Dying Earth (1950)
His brain ached with the want of knowing.
Dying Earth (1950)
I am not called Cugel the Clever for nothing.
Dying Earth (1950)
Yes, I realize that I see but a semblance, but so do you, and who is to say which is real?
Dying Earth (1950)
I do not care to listen; obloquy injures my self-esteem and I am skeptical of praise.
Dying Earth (1950)
I categorically declare first my absolute innocence, second my lack of criminal intent, and third my effusive apologies.
Dying Earth (1950)
Mischief moves somewhere near and I must blast it with my magic!
Dying Earth (1950)
I challenge Destiny, yes, but I do not leap off cliffs.
Dying Earth (1950)
Cease the bickering! I am indulging the exotic whims of a beautiful princess and must not be distracted.
Dying Earth (1950)
Enough of this intolerable inanity! I propose that such loquacity passes beyond the scope of nuisance and over the verge of turpitude.
Dying Earth (1950)
There can be no doubt as to the facts as I have stated them. Orthodoxy derives from this axiomatic foundation, and the two systems are mutually reinforcing: hence each is doubly validated.
Dying Earth (1950)