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Few of the virtues are really useful. Fidelity leads to lost opportunity, truth-telling to injured feelings, charity to additional solicitations. The least productive, and possibly the most overrated, is faith. The faithful deny reason, close their minds to the evidence of their senses, and remain unfailingly optimistic in the face of disaster. They inevitably get just what they deserve.

— Jack McDevitt Deepsix (2001)

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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)

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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.