185 quotes
That's the thing about people who think they hate computers … What they really hate are lousy programmers.
Oath of Fealty (1982)
Geoffrey Eustace Parlette had evidently imitated ancient bad taste in hopes of getting something new and different.
A Gift From Earth (1968)
The standard-issue critic took English lit because physics was too hard for him!
Playgrounds of the Mind (1991)
She waited for him to explain a universe in which there was so much injustice.
The Mote in God's Eye (1974)
A machine has no mind to read; you never know when it’s going to betray you—
World of Ptavvs (1966)
Whatever benefits voodoo conferred, intellectual agility was not among them.
The California Voodoo Game (1992)
In fantasy, more than in other forms of literature, the obligation is to teach something universally true about the human condition.
N-Space (1990)
The trouble with sharing too many beds was that one’s chance of running into a really bad situation was improved almost to certainty.
A Hole in Space (1974)
The morning was blacker than the inside of a smoker’s lungs.
Tales of Known Space (1975)
And the air was full of the smell of burning bridges.
Protector (1973)
Everybody was talking and nobody was communicating.
The Descent of Anansi (1982)
For each human being there is an optimum ratio between change and stasis. Too little change, he grows bored. Too little stability, he panics and loses his ability to adapt.
The Flight of the Horse (1973)
Too much imagination and I’ll scare myself to death. Too little and I’ll get myself killed.
A World Out of Time (1976)
Doctor, you keep asking me to see your point of view, which is based on ethics. You never see mine, which isn’t.
The Mote in God's Eye (1974)
Presently she gave her considered opinion. “Idiots.”
“No. They’re just like all of us: They want something for nothing.”
A Hole in Space (1974)
What’s the justification for ancestor worship? You know what happens to a man without modern geriatrics: as he ages his brain cells start to die. Yet people tend to respect him, to listen to him.
Protector (1973)
It had been a long dull evening, with only the thought of leaving the party early to look forward to.
The Mote in God's Eye (1974)
It was a light, brief kiss, but it was less an ending than a promise, and he was happy.
Dream Park (1981)
“Perhaps I was expecting too much.”
“Perhaps. We’re all waiting as fast as we can.”
The Mote in God's Eye (1974)
Cooking was creation itself; It seemed to put the universe in perspective.
Destiny's Road (1997)