87 quotes
If the gods made man, which I doubt, they should have made him so he sometimes enjoyed what he has instead of forever yearning for what he has not.
The Great Fetish (1978)
While a hundred wives and concubines may satisfy the vanity of a king, you would search the wide world over ere you found a king who could satisfy a hundred wives and concubines.
The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate (1961)
Good liquor helps a man to see that after all it’s a small thing that disturbs him; but when you take liquor without the trouble, then the liquor becomes the trouble itself, and that’s bad.
Tales from Gavagan's Bar (1953)
Gontran was a rancorous, vengeful man, who never forgave what he deemed a slight or let bygones be bygones. Hatred and grudges so filled his mind as to render him impervious to reason.
The Incorporated Knight (1987)
If I don't believe a thing is possible, I don't use it.
I am sorry, my dear, but that is the best advice we can give you. If some irrational rule of your society prevents, so much the worse for your society.
Rogue Queen (1951)
“You Afkans seem like a grimly puritanical lot,” said Halran, “if you will excuse my saying so.”
Ndovu beamed. “No apologies needed. What you say is high praise here.”
The Great Fetish (1978)
It must be that Terran love of theirs. Remember the quicksand? Whatever troubles it may cause, that kind of love makes them run risks for each other they wouldn’t for anybody else.
Rogue Queen (1951)
If he had ten times as much brains as he has and cheated on the entrance examination, he might be able to get into a home for the feeble-minded.
Tales from Gavagan's Bar (1953)
The wise man does not defy necessity.
An Elephant for Aristotle (1958)
All we can say for sure is that monotheism proved as deadly a foe to learning as war and barbarism. Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum.
The Bronze God of Rhodes (1960)
We rented an apartment in a rambly wooden-frame building, a block from the beach. This was before the waterfront sprouted a host of huge condominiums, like a plague of concrete mushrooms.
The Purple Pterodactyls (1980)
There was no harder-boiled materialist than I; I rejected Marxism as too mystical and not materialistic enough.
The Purple Pterodactyls (1980)
I’ve been saying a special prayer to Eunmar; did you know I believe in the old gods? If you try hard enough, I’ve found, you can believe anything.
Rogue Queen (1951)
“How goes the City of the Persians?”
“The same as ever: plots and intrigues in the palace; Persian arrogance in the streets; peasant ignorance in the countryside.”
The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate (1961)
Mighty is the empire of habit.
An Elephant for Aristotle (1958)
As you know, Monsieur Newbury, the civilization is but a thin crust over our savage interiors, no matter if our skins be white or black. We must try to keep this shell of egg intact.
The Purple Pterodactyls (1980)
“So you studied under Lysippos? Didn’t you find him a somewhat thorny character?”
“At times, though I should prefer a difficult teacher of the first rank to an amiable mediocrity.”
The Bronze God of Rhodes (1960)
I have deeply studied the female mind. Somewhat to my surprise, I found it, not the same as the male, but on balance quite as able.
The Incorporated Knight (1987)
“Ah! Here we be! ‘Human beings most readily love others of their species who, alpha, do services for them; beta, flatter them; gamma, refrain from reproaching them for errors; and delta, cultivate good nature and ease of manner.’”
The Incorporated Knight (1987)