Algis Budrys

"It was understood on occasions of this sort that crew technicians are too busy to stay, since it had long ago been discovered that even one cameraman at a buffet was worth a horde of locusts, and tended to make awkward small talk."

"“I’m not frightened. ”“None of us are ever frightened. Now and then, we’d just like more time to plan our responses.”"

"I’m just an information processor like any other living thing."

"You know, even more than playing chess, I dislike dealing with self-righteous chess players."

"“The world is full of confusing coincidences.” “And a man’s mind insists on making patterns from random data.”"

"It’s good for us; hot breath on your heels is what keeps you on your toes."

"The way the world worked, once the word was out, the effect would take on exhaustibility. There was always not merely the event itself, but opinion of the event, and rebuttal of the opinion, and the ready charge of self-interest, and the countercharge. There was the analysis of the event, and the excavation of the root causes of the event, and the placement of the event in the correct historical context. Everyone would want to kick the can, and it would clatter over the cobblestones interminably, far from the toes of those who’d first impelled it."

"“Even so, we’re the only animal whose signals can’t be trusted by its own kind.” He smiled. “Except for thee and me, of course.”"

"I don’t know...but then, if God had intended Man to think, He would have given him brains, I suppose."

"The horse is a stubborn, dirty, stupid animal that reminds me of a sheep. Its only use is to embody the wings a man feels within him, and to do this it lathers and sweats, defecates and steps in badger holes."

"“Bribes,” Michaelmas said. “They always go to bribes when they’re not sure they’re on top, and coercion when they are. That’s all they know. They really don’t believe anyone would help them just on their own merits.”"

"“I hate acting on probability.” “You go to your church and I’ll go to mine.”"

"“I—ah—have some idea.” “You argue?” “I propose.” “Marriage?” “No. Another form of dialectical antagonism.”"

"Any intelligent race you can hope to someday relate to is going to have to come up essentially the same developmental roads and deal with the physical laws of the Universe in about the same way."

"It’s amazing how self-perpetuating ignorance is."

"Well, you know, you do that kind of thing when you’re young. Then you get older. I think maybe most of the elders know all about that. They see but they don’t say, because they know everybody gets older."

"Cars seemed to me to speak more clearly of Earth than any single thing else."

"I understood, even then, that without question the best way to understand these people was to understand their infatuation with cars."

"Nobody liked him. Nobody loved him—and this bothered him. But everyone kowtowed to him, and that, it seems, was what he held most precious."

"I had had a good life. A somewhat shorter one than I had anticipated, but I had had the money, I had had the girls, and nobody told me what to do. Is there, really, anything else? Are you sure?"

"Engineers do not particularly like PR men."

"One fine evening I was having a conversation with Algis Budrys about rewriting and why so many writers believed that myth [that rewriting was necessary or essential]. He shrugged and said, "They don't know any better and no one has the courage to tell them." So I asked him if he ever thought rewriting could fix a flawed story. His answer was clear and I remember it word-for-word to this day: "No matter how many times you stir up a steaming pile of crap, it's still just a steaming pile of crap.""