"“One of the laws of nature,” Gordon said, “is that half the people have got to be below average.” ”For a Gaussian distribution, yeah,” Cooper said. “Sad, though.”"

"There was something about such reflex stupidity that never failed to irritate him."

"All right, he thought, so the details were not perfect. But maybe, in a sense, that was part of the magic, too."

"To shine is better than to reflect."

"It was an example of what he thought of as the Law of Controversy: Passion was inversely proportional to the amount of real information available."

"Yes, perhaps that was it. For decades now the picture of the world painted by the scientists had become strange, distant, unbelievable. Far easier, then, to ignore it than try to understand. Things were too complicated. Why bother? Turn on the telly, luv. Right."

"Everybody feels he has a right to a life of luxury — or at least comfort — so there’s a lot of frustration and resentment when the dream craps out."

"At least being prosperous set one apart in England; here it guaranteed nothing, not even taste."

"Only fools get to join."

"“The peers just fill the air with their speeches.” “And from what I've seen, vice versa.”"

"They will do anything for the worker, except become one."

"Organic forms are in the universe of things and also reside in the universe of essences. There we cannot go. … You are a spontaneous product of the universe of things. We are not. This seems to give you … windows. It was difficult for me to monitor your domestic transmissions, they fill up with branches, spontaneous paths, nuances…"

"Disintegration of structure equals information loss."

"Boundaries got redrawn at the point of a sword, and the legal frame followed."

"He didn’t regret growing older, it was a privilege denied to many."

"A rich bank account did not mean rich ideas; in fact, often the reverse. The bigger your ass, the more you want to cover it."

"Manufacturing creates wealth, services distribute it."

"Marches don’t stop markets."

"Schools praised diversity but were culturally the same. Different skin color, same opinions."

"Every age is known by its pleasures, Fielding reads from the library readout. The twentieth introduced two: high speed and hallucinogenic drugs. Both proved dangerous in the long run, which made them even more interesting."

"The role of boredom in human history is underrated."

"Nothing could be sure it was itself the original. So the only intelligent course lay in enjoying whatever life a being felt—living like a mortal, in the moment."

"In its studies and learned colloquy, Faz saw and felt the tales of Men. They seemed curiously convoluted, revolving about Self. What mattered most to those who loved tales was how they concluded. Yet all Men knew how each ended. Their little dreams were rounded with a sleep. So the point of a tale was not how it ended, but what it meant. The great inspiring epic rage of Man was to find that lesson, buried in a grave."

"Thunder impresses, but it’s lightning does the work."

"A science fiction writer is—or should be—constrained by what is, or logically might be. That can mean simple fidelity to facts (which, in science, are always more important than theories—though Lord knows the two help shape each other, undermining the convenient, complacent separation of observer and observed). To me it also means heeding the authentic, the actual and concrete. Bad fiction uses the glossy generality; good writing needs the smattering of detail, the unrelenting busy mystery of the real."

"I would have to look, try to find a bridge that would make plausible what I knew but could scarcely prove. The standards of science are austere, unforgiving—and who would have it differently? I would have to hedge, to take one step back for each two forward, to compare and suggest and contrast, always sticking close to the data. And despite what I thought I knew now, the data would have to lead, they would have to show the way."

"But the answers come when they will, one piece at a time."

"He went to Los Angeles to do the work even though he hated the city; it was full of happy homogeneous people without structure or direction. While on the bus to work, it seemed to him Los Angeles went on long after it had already made its point."

"Must admit it felt good. First time in years anybody ever admitted I was right."

"Trouble comes looking for you if you’re a fool."

"As Kurt Vonnegut pointed out in his first novel, Player Piano, some people love problem-solving and tinkering—and that is the final, irreducible driver of human history. Wars and faiths and leaders come and go, but the problem-solvers’ slow, steady work is the fulcrum upon which history turns."

"“You know, my dear, you’re wrong that suffering ennobles people.” She’d stopped to massage her hip, wincing. “It simply makes one cross.”"

"Talkers never acted when they could talk."

"She could not understand why people feared new ideas. She was frightened by the old ones."

"Wars don’t determine who’s right, only who’s left."

"When you have a Ph. D., you call them hypotheses, not guesses."

"She had once looked up the term ‘lawyer’ and found it was someone who helped you fight laws."

"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left."

"—Y’know, fact that nobody understands you doesn’t mean you’re some kinda genius."

"“Costly,” Zeb fretted. “How will I ever pay—” “The dead do not worry about debts,” she said. “You have such an engaging way of putting matters.” “Subtlety is wasted here.”"

"Ideas about existence pale, beside the fact of existence."

"I agree with the Emperor. Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced."

"Bureaucracy increases as a doubling function in time, given resources. At the personal level, the cause is the persistent desire of every manager to hire at least one assistant. This provides the time constant for growth. Eventually this collides with the carrying capacity of society."

"Science is about continuity of ideas, a web of connections."

"While politicians wrangled on the front pages of our newspapers, quiet revolutions looked within. Only occasionally did the news I thought most notable make the front page. All of it hinged on the steady building of connections which marks modern science."