185 quotes
There is no turning away from knowledge.
Neutron Star (1968)
The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program. And if we become extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll serve us right!
There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it.
A sufficiently intelligent being will look about her, solve all questions, then cease activity.
Convergent Series (1979)
I sometimes wonder why the aristocracy isn’t extinct, the lot of you seem so stupid sometimes.
The Mote in God's Eye (1974)
Seen through the glow of a building orgasm, a woman seems to blaze with angelic glory.
Ringworld (1970)
Infantry, which means killing on foot and doesn’t have anything to do with children.
N-Space (1990)
Rod privately suspected the Scots studied their speech off duty so they’d be unintelligible to the rest of humanity.
The Mote in God's Eye (1974)
It’s damned embarrassing when you wake up with a girl and can’t remember her name.
Flatlander (1995)
There’s a fine line between sensible emotional restraint, and the withdrawal symptoms of a stimulus junkie denied her fix.
Dream Park (1981)
Two thousand years of civilization does not undo a million years of genetics.
The Barsoom Project (1989)
Talking to the Council would be like shouting obscenities at a forest fire.
The Flight of the Horse (1973)
In a universe the size of ours almost anything that can happen, will.
Tales of Known Space (1975)
A species that can’t develop spaceflight is no better than animals.
A Hole in Space (1974)
She may look like a flake, but there’s somebody home in that head.
The Barsoom Project (1989)
When you trade among the stars, there is no repeat business.
A Hole in Space (1974)
Sometimes you just have to be satisfied with what you are.
The Legacy of Heorot (1987)
There aren’t many prizes for second place in battle.
N-Space (1990)
Priests learn to be practical, if their gods don’t.
The Magic Goes Away (1976)
Half of wisdom is learning what to unlearn.
The Ringworld Throne (1996)