Science Fiction Authors

"He was sure there must be some catch. Every principle here had an opposite, and both were wrong."

"Evolution’s logical, unlike religion. Even the Church will agree with that. You have to take religion on faith and you can’t test it by common sense."

"An accident of careless handling at a dumping point had touched off a great atomic explosion, somewhere in central Europe. That country had thought itself attacked during the disarmament hiatus, and had struck at China, which had bombarded Russia, which thought it was being attacked by America. The confusion was straightened out in less than two hours, but by then two-thirds of the world had been killed."

"A single tiny cell had decided the fate of a population pressed so close to the ultimate limit of the planet’s resources that there was no margin for error. Facing such risks, how could any sane and responsible ruling group dare to demand still more mouths to cry for food? It was a shabby, horrible way to run a world."

"The present molders of the code seemed to have a clear knowledge of just how difficult to make something, to add to its fascination, without making it impossible."

"“You really are a pig,” she decided coldly. “You’ve got your snout in the trough here too,” he reminded her."

"Stupidity, greed, misdirected aggression—or sum it up and call it man."

"“But it won’t stay at this level. Not with the Eleventh Commandment. They won’t stop, even when there are a hundred billion.” Epstein shook his head. “They won’t get there. At the present time, conditions make the death rate about equal to the birthrate. Sooner or later, everything reaches its own level. Oh, if the Australian scheme goes through, we may reach a twenty billion total. Beyond that, the more children get born, the worse conditions get—which brings up the death rate and cuts the figure back again.” “And leaves the misery rate at a maximum.”"

"After that, the book will fade, the way all books fade in your mind. But I hope you will remember this: A man walking fast down a dark lonely street. Quick steps and hard breathing, all wonder and need. A bell above a door and the tinkle it makes. A clerk and a ladder and warm golden light, and then: the right book exactly, at exactly the right time."

"The Internet: always proving that you’re not quite as special as you suspected."

"Belasco gave me a frank look. “A market in the Bay Area needs, at minimum, three things. It needs fancy coffee, weird honey, and sourdough bread.”"

"Your life must be an open city, with all sorts of ways to wander in."

"And even if I fail—this is always the archivist’s consolation—perhaps I will have laid a foundation for someone wiser."

"There is no immortality that is not built on friendship and work done with care."

"“You know, old books are a big problem for us. Old knowledge in general. We call it OK. Old knowledge, OK. Did you know that ninety-five percent of the internet was only created in the last five years? But we know that when it comes to all human knowledge, the ratio is just the opposite—in fact, OK accounts for most things that most people know, and have ever known.”... “So where is it, right? Where’s the OK? Well, it’s in old books, for one thing...—and it’s also in people’s heads, a lot of traditional knowledge, that’s what we call TK. OK and TK.” He’s drawing little overlapping blobs, labeling them with acronyms. “Imagine if we could make all that OK/TK available all the time, to everyone. On the web, on your phone. No question would go unanswered ever again.”"

"He has the strangest expression on his face—the emotive equivalent of 404"

"“We believe that when this secret is finally unlocked, every member of the Unbroken Spine who ever lived...will live again.” A Messiah, a first disciple, and a rapture. Check, check, and double-check. Penumbra is, right now, teetering right on the boundary between charmingly weird old guy and disturbingly weird old guy. Two things tip the scales toward charm: First, his wry smile, which is not the smile of the disturbed, and micromuscles don’t lie. Second, the look in Kat’s eyes. She’s enthralled. I guess people believe weirder things than this, right? Presidents and popes believe weirder things than this."

"The buzz about Google these days is that it’s like America itself: still the biggest game in town, but inevitably and irrevocably on the decline. Both are superpowers with unmatched resources, but both are faced with fast-growing rivals, and both will eventually be eclipsed. For America, that rival is China; for Google, it’s Facebook...But here’s the difference: staring down the inevitable, American pays defense contractors to build aircraft carriers. Google pays brilliant programmers to do whatever the hell they want."

"I feel a little whirl of dislocation—the trademark sensation of the world being more closely knit together than you expected."

"Thank you,Teobaldo You are my greatest friend This has been the key to everything"

"If you do not act, the world dies, and you with it. Surely survival is worth a little effort? Unless you are so eager to retire to that dismal heaven of your Christian god?"

"Your passion and loyalty do you credit, Hans, but they do little to convince me that you also possess a brain."

"William too closed his eyes and prayed, but his world had lost its anchor. The Calvinist code which had dominated and supported him throughout his life seemed unequal to his present confusion. It was now apparent that predestination was a meaningless concept—certainly to one who had been told that his actions would directly affect the outcome of history for all time. But did that necessarily negate his faith entirely? Copernicus established that the earth orbited around the sun. Did God die in that moment? Or did man merely understand a little better?"

"Magic is only useful against those with an affinity to magic."

"“His heart and mind must be pure. He must put aside fornication—” Sagitta chuckled. “Dear Father, sex is the ultimate creative power. Your faith’s rejection of that principle will be its downfall.”"

"“William, please. Heed your heart.” He thrust his foot into the stirrup. “No, it’s a singularly unreliable organ. I think I’ll use my mind, and...consider.”"

"“We are penetrating the mysteries of the cosmos, and the secrets of life at its smaller levels.” And it is wrong. You must grasp the purity of the whole, not tear from the Goddess the secrets of her heart.” “Spinoza says that the more we understand individual objects, the more we understand God. I think that is a very profound statement. Why does your goddess fear what my God does not? “The mechanistic path has led mankind to terror and suffering.” “No, ignorance and hatred and intolerance have led mankind to terror and suffering. And not all of our discoveries lead to death.”"

"“I confess a fascination and love for clocks.” “Why?” asked Sagitta. “There is something so reassuring about a device which echoes the movements of stars and sun and planets.” “To seek to understand the spheres is to dull their music,” said the girl softly. “I don’t agree. The better one understands, the more one can appreciate,” replied William."

"“What magic is this” asked one young German thickly. ”Not magic. Science. Preferable to magic.” “Oh really?” said Sagitta in a freezing tone, and William blushed. “You yourself have said there are very few people with the talent of magic. Science is open to all.” “When knowledge ends, only faith remains,” said Armand. “So we should abandon the pursuit of knowledge lest we diminish faith? That’s stupid,” said William belligerently. “The simple folk of village and cottage are happier if they’re not confused with things beyond their understanding,” declared Sagitta. “Sagitta, how do we know it’s beyond their understanding?” “Because if it weren’t they wouldn’t be common,” cried Solms-Braunfels, and there was another shout of laughter from the table."

"Expediency is the god of princes."

"“I want so much.” Haakon laid a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “So do we all.” The prince straightened. “And only in death do we find contentment.” “Lowering thought. Is there to be no happiness in life then?” “I think not. Each moment of joy must be paid for by a moment of equal pain.” “You Dutch merchants, always keeping the books in balance. Do you see God as an accountant?” William smiled slightly. “If he is he’s a shockingly bad one. I’m more than due for some joy.” Haakon caught Barbarossa’s reins near the bit and drew the two chargers to a halt. “Then find it in the moment, H. H. Find it in the moment.”"

"There is no kindness at courts, only greed and lies and pain."

"He suddenly remembered Prince John Maurice’s assessment of the situation in a recent letter: The government lost its head, the people its heart, the country its hope."

"“Terrible things have happened. The de Witts are killed.” “Is this so terrible? They have been your foes from the moment of your birth, and though out of power would have continued to conspire against you.” “Sagi, if we must needs kill our opponents then civilization is a chimera. Governments are formed so that men may disagree without murder, and I tell you true, I loathe a mob more than anything.” “They acted out of love for you.” “That does not comfort me.”"

"Clouds boiled like a brooding frown in the west, and the sun drew fire from them as it sank burning and orange into their billowing embrace."

"“William Henry, when you were my student you honored me by noting down my words and philosophical maunderings. What said I on the subject of hate?” “A strong man hates no one, is enraged with no one,” whispered William. Spinoza continued. “He who lives under the guidance of reason endeavors as much as possible to repay hatred with love and nobleness. He who wished to avenge injuries by reciprocal hatred will live in misery. Hatred is increased by reciprocated hatred, and, on the contrary, can be demolished by love.”"

"There was no way she could know, but Prisoner Zero asked anyway because he was talking to himself; which was all anyone ever did, it seemed to him, talk to themselves while half meanings and misunderstandings fed into the minds of those who thought they were listening."

"“Any chance you own a hijab?” The answer was no, but Malika could borrow one. Come to that, she could steal one freshly washed off the wall behind her house and claim a sudden, God-inspired attack of modesty if she got caught. The old crows were quite stupid enough to believe that."

"The thought came and went, more wish than thought. Maria wasn’t good at considering her own emotions. Most of the time the girl found it hard to believe that what she felt might matter."

"“That’s impossible,” said Tris. “Most things are,” Luca said, “if you think about them for long enough.”"

"But those would be lies and Tris never lied to herself. At least not more than was required to stay human or sane. Lying to others was different. That was what people like her did if they wanted to remain alive."

"“We’re getting old,” he said. “No,” said Paula Zarte. “You are. I’m just not as young as I was.”"

"Gene Newman was Catholic, although not so Catholic that he had more than two children."

"Inside every adult was a child, or so it is said. Professor Petra Mayer was different. Inside Petra Mayer was an impossibly beautiful, barefoot adolescent who wouldn’t have been seen dead giving her inner child the time of day."

"The third nightfall was less impressive than the second, which mirrored a rule Tris had already identified; new emotions devalued, going from intense through familiar to reach a kind of ghost state where one no longer really noticed them at all."

"The fifty-third Chuang Tzu wore the very first on his cloak as a diamond buckle. Every emperor became a diamond eventually. It was one of the few advantages of living as a carbon-based life form."

"Immortality had been perfected, at least in its non-biological forms, but insufficient attention had been paid to the boredom of eternity and the corrosive nature of the ratchet effect which demanded ever sharper, stronger and more intense sensations to maintain something like the same level of satisfaction. Living forever turned out to be much like long-term sex, psychologically tricky; which was why what killed the original colonists was not hardship but boredom."

"Why would we do this? she asked, watching smoke trickle towards the ceiling. A whole world of rigid rules covering temperature, convection and Brownian motion all busily pretending to be truly chaotic."

"Apparently this was a design flaw in the unaugmented human brain, a lagging of consciousness behind intent."

"He had been fighting with himself longer than he could remember and was still not sure who was winning."