141 quotes
Don’t bring your petty little human perspective to the matter, Dr. Onslo. To a vulture, carrion tastes like chocolate cake.
The War of the Worldviews (2002)
It was not a question of regressive old ideas versus enlightened new ideas, but of reasonable caution versus arrogant caprice.
The Wine of Violence (1981)
Bitterness is not a philosophy, friend. Outrage is not an ethic. Stop counting corpses and reach a truce with the universe, or you’ll be stuck on the dung heap forever.
Blameless in Abaddon (1996)
Her audacity turned him on. There was nobody quite so arousing, he decided, as a worthy opponent.
Towing Jehovah (1994)
Much as I hate to admit it, humanity will get along perfectly well without me. Any species that could invent the twentieth century entirely on its own doesn’t need a Prince of Darkness.
Blameless in Abaddon (1996)
“On your planet, how do you tell somebody that you love her?”
“It’s very complicated. You say, ‘I love you,’ and then you stand back and see what happens.”
The Wine of Violence (1981)
Don’t get testy with me, sir. I am Augustine of Hippo Regius, discoverer of concupiscence. Between my legs hangs the axis on which will turn the brave new world of Christian antieroticism.
Blameless in Abaddon (1996)
A corpse was far too easy a thing to rationalize. Christianity had been doing it for two thousand years.
Towing Jehovah (1994)
“I’ve always regretted not having a brother. Maybe I shouldn’t.”
“For me it’s always been like having pubic hair. You have it, but what the hell is it for?”
The Wine of Violence (1981)
Oh, Robespierre, Robespierre, was the triumph of inadvertence over intention ever so total?
The War of the Worldviews (2002)
It was the most portentous mission since Saul of Tarsus has suffered an epileptic seizure and called it Christianity.
Towing Jehovah (1994)
When I destroyed my unwanted children, it was murder. When Yahweh did the same, it was eugenics. Do you approve of the universe, Ham?
Bible Stories for Adults (1996)
Hell was not perfect, but it was paradise compared with New Jersey.
Only Begotten Daughter (1990)
“In fact, there’s probably only one thing worse than not being able to understand a person.”
“What’s that?” asked Nimrod.
“Being able to understand him completely.”
Bible Stories for Adults (1996)
Burne was tough. Burne practiced archeology, the most inconvenient of the sciences.
The Wine of Violence (1981)
He smiled. Julie’s wedding, exquisite thought. Would his grandchildren be free of godhead? Was divinity a recessive trait?
Only Begotten Daughter (1990)
In Francis’s view there was ultimate gold in this commitment to impractical knowledge, to theories that had no responsibilities other than to be true. On good days the new ideas inched human intellect toward the grand understandings that were science’s pride and joy.
The Wine of Violence (1981)
“I cannot respect any theory of evil that so neatly immunizes itself against empirical disconfirmation,” said Gordon. “All theodicies requiring belief in an afterlife are manifestly begging the question.”
Blameless in Abaddon (1996)
“That was a very pretty speech,” said Loloc, “but if it contained an answer to even one of my questions then I did not hear it.”
The Wine of Violence (1981)
“It must have been hard converting your elders in the Pentagon to this view.”
“Ever try stuffing a melted marshmallow up a wildcat’s ass? It can be done, but you have to like your job.”
This Is the Way the World Ends (1986)