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People lived and died and did strange, pointless things to themselves. So did societies, be they city-sized states or galactic empires encompassing thousands of solar systems. Everything came and went, everything was new and bright with promise once and old and worn out later, and everything left a small, diminishing stain on eternity, a mark that time would eventually erase.

— Alastair Reynolds House of Suns (2008)

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More quotes by Alastair Reynolds

There’s nothing like a stupid, accidental death to remind you of the supreme futility of everything.

Belladonna Nights and Other Stories (2021)

Ghosts are not the souls of the dead, but the souls of people written out of history when history changes.

Deep Navigation (2010)

You are that rarest of creatures: a man with the wisdom to see beyond his own time.

The Prefect (2007)

Truth is truth, no matter who else believes it.

Troika (2010)

I’ll argue to the death against stupid legislation, but some rules exist for a reason.

On the Steel Breeze (2013)

All Alastair Reynolds quotes →

Attribution

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