Skip to content

Never look for complexity in diplomatic decisions. With very few exceptions, actions always devolve—and that’s the exact term—from someone’s self-interest. Not the national self-interest, by the way. We are talking here about individual careers.

— Jack McDevitt Infinity Beach (2000)

Another quote →

More quotes by Jack McDevitt

Defend your opinion only if it can be shown to be true, not because it is your opinion.

Omega (2003)

If you're paying attention to your wardrobe, Rudy believed, your mind isn’t sufficiently occupied.

Cauldron (2007)

He would make a good manager, but he had a little too much integrity to survive in a top job.

The Engines of God (1994)

“I can’t imagine,” said Dupre, “a better way to unnerve people than to tell them there’s no cause for alarm.”

The Hercules Text (1986)

Politicians always seemed to be willing to sacrifice the general welfare to win votes.

The Hercules Text (1986)

All Jack McDevitt quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Jack McDevitt (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.