144 quotes
The best foundation that a decision is ever allowed is our fallible assessment of the probabilities.
The People of the Wind (1973)
Pioneering is an unlimited chance to become the biggest frog, provided the puddle is small enough.
The Enemy Stars (1959)
I walk beyond town, many of these nights, to stand under the high autumnal stars, look upward and wonder.
There Will Be Time (1972)
You can have more adventure in an hour’s walk through a forest than in a year on a spaceship.
The Enemy Stars (1959)
All those agonizing philosophical-theological conundrums amount to "Ask a silly question, get a silly answer."
Harvest of Stars (1993)
If you continue a liar, you are as skillful a one as I have found in a wide experience.
Man does not live by bread alone, nor guns, paperwork, theses, naked practicalities.
“Is that all he wants?” McCready wondered. “Shuffling papers in an office, forever?”
When facts are insufficient, theorizing is ridiculous at best, misleading at worst.
The Book of Poul Anderson (1975)
His conscience must have gotten tired of nagging him and delivered an ultimatum.
There Will Be Time (1972)
A little careful pushing, and they’ll bury the hatchet all right—in each other.
Brain Wave (1954)
You cannot imagine how wearisome existence grows, alone and immortal.
Three Hearts and Three Lions (1961)
I think most human misery is due to well-meaning fanatics like him.
Anybody can find infinite Mandelbrot figures in his navel.
Harvest of Stars (1993)
Know that against time the gods themselves are powerless.
Sincerity is the most overrated virtue in the catalogue.
No amount of money would stave off a nuclear warhead.
Mortal combat corrupts, and war corrupts absolutely.
There Will Be Time (1972)
I’ve seen so many gods come and go, what’s one more?
The last thing any sane person wants is a jihad.
The Star Fox (1965)