20 quotes
There are some people so stupid you have to show them everything. I didn’t realize that there are people so stupid you can’t show them anything.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
A practical man can always make what he wants to do look like a noble sacrifice of personal inclinations to the welfare of the community.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
It is the custom of all men, everywhere, to be obtuse where women are concerned.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
The hearts of the rich are hardened. The existence of the poor is a reproach to them.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
Twilight remained, a fairy half-light in which all things looked much more charming than they really were.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
He needed some rather extensive changes in the relationship of the cosmos to himself.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
He signed himself prince of this, lord of that, baron of the other thing and claimant to the dukedom of something else.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
He irritably suspected himself of a tendency to make enemies unnecessarily.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
Hoddan angrily suspected fate and chance of plain conspiracy against him.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
“You’ve got to do something!” insisted Fani. “I saw Father talking to them! He looked happy, and he never looks happy unless he’s planning some skulduggery!”
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
Hoddan felt the anger any man feels when he sees betrayal of that honor a competent machine represents.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
He was in a state of doubt which passed very well for modesty.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
This was the second time in his life he’d been on a horse. It was two too many.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
But it might not be true enough. It might be less than...well...sufficiently true in a particular instance.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
Hoddan fumbled for her meaning. It wasn’t quite an apology for trying to get him killed. But at least it was a disclaimer of future intentions in that direction.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
From the Near Rim to the farthest of occupied systems, planets circled their suns, and men lived on them, and every man took himself seriously and did not quite believe that the universe had existed before he was born or would long survive his loss.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
It couldn’t happen! Hoddan couldn’t conceive of such a thing. But a recently developed pessimism suggested that since everything else, to date, had been to his disadvantage, this was probably a catastrophe also.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
Again time passed. In one of the remoter galaxies a supernova flamed, and on a rocky, barren world a small living thing squirmed experimentally—and to mankind the one event was just as important as the other.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
When in the course of human events somebody does something that puts somebody else to the trouble of adjusting the numb routine of his life, the adjustee is resentful. The richer he is and the more satisfactory he considers his life, the more resentful he is at any change, however minute. And of all the changes which offend people, changes which require them to think are most disliked.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)
There was a beautiful row. You’ve really scared people, Hoddan! You deserve well of the republic! Every government and every person needs to be thoroughly terrified occasionally. It limbers up the brain.
The Pirates of Zan (1959)