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I finished by saying that it struck me that all the ethical systems I was discussing were after the fact. That is, that people act as they are disposed to, but they like to feel afterwards that they were right and so they invent systems that approve of their dispositions.

— Alexei Panshin Rite of Passage (1968)

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More quotes by Alexei Panshin

Some people get a feeling of power from being unpleasant.

Rite of Passage (1968)

Population pressure is the ultimate cause of every war.

Rite of Passage (1968)

You can’t stamp on people and not get hurt in return.

Rite of Passage (1968)

Brains are no good if you don’t use them.

Rite of Passage (1968)

The rest of our weekend—sleeping arrangements, hand-done work, hand-prepared food—was simple enough to please Thoreau, who I am convinced was a nice fellow who confused rustic vacations with life.

Rite of Passage (1968)

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Attribution

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