"As Barrington Bayley had pointed out in his book Structural Dynamism, man was not an intelligent animal. He was an animal with intelligence that he could apply to some, not all, of his activities."

"What kind of chromosomes a person has is called his genotype, and the appearance of a person is called his phenotype. Thus, males have the genotype XY and the phenotype male. Women have the genotype XX and the phenotype female.… In every war in history there must have been a considerable flow of genes one way or another. Whether the genes of the victors or of the vanquished have increased most is a debatable point."

"Some try to understand the world, while others seek to impose their understanding on it. Unfortunately, Mr. Smiles, these latter folk are those least equipped to perform the operation. Like Frankenstein, my dear Mr. Smiles, they produce a monster."

"“Better the myth of happiness,” Harlequin murmured, “than the myth of despair.”"

"“I appreciate this quest for national identity,” she said, “but it does seem that most traditions were dropped for the good reason that they were revoltingly cruel and stupid.”"

"I was thinking of going into the assassination business. You know what a dreamer I am. Would it be too much of a hit and myth operation, do you think?"

"“There’s more to life than drugs and sex, Mr. Cornelius.” “There’s more than life to drugs and sex. It’s better than nothing.”"

"Yesterday’s underdog is tomorrow’s tyrant."

"Even ruin could not make it picturesque. The streets were awash with weather-stained postcards, bedraggled and muddy King Arthur tea-towels, broken plastic Holy Grails, Excaliburs carved from chalk, tiny Round Tables to hang on the wall, and polystyrene crowns. In the reign of one Elizabeth the ideal had reached perfection and, in the reign of another, it had achieved its ultimate degradation."

"Everything means nothing—that is the only truth."

"“He complains that I don’t really understand the importance of it all. He thinks my loyalties are sometimes divided.” They were quite a long way behind the men. Mitzi smirked. “Of course, that’s impossible. I haven’t any loyalties at all.”"

"How many generations need to comply in a fallacy before it becomes accepted as truth?"

"“I’ll be seeing you,” said Jerry. Koutrouboussis chuckled to himself. “At this rate you’ll be raising me, too.”"

"Stagnation’s no substitute for stability."

"From the ceiling came the miserable, neurotic drone of the Everly Brothers. He let it play, deepening his mood. If a mood was worth having, he thought, it was worth having profoundly."

"The barbarians don’t come from outside the walls any more, do they?"

"From beyond the door came the sound of people at prayer, led by the droning voices of the priests. Even the plane seemed to be praying. Una went to find a parachute before they reached Windermere."

"“The schizophrenic condition finds its most glorious expression in Hinduism,” remarked Professor Hira. “Whereas Christianity is an expression of the much less interesting paranoid frame of reference. Paranoia is rarely heroic, in the mythical sense, at least.”"

"Is there anything sadder, I wonder, than an assassin with nobody left to kill?"

"Technology is potential freedom from brutality."

"Time to be moving; moves to be timing."

"“It’s like prostitution.” “It’s a lot like prostitution, isn’t it?” “You see nothing wrong…?” “The customer’s always right.” “And you have no,” she shuddered, “ethics?” “I give the public what it wants, if that’s what you mean.”"

"The poor man has sacrificed himself for others, but he could not help resenting them from time to time."

"“Entropy’s setting in. Or so they say.” “Why should that be true?” “It’s Time—it’s all used up.” “This is metaphysical nonsense!” “Very likely.”"

"“You look ahead.” “I look around. Ahead’s here already.”"

"“Perhaps I should not say so, but it occasionally crosses my mind to wonder why, in all the mystic cosmologies, even in some of the modern so-called parasciences, our own age is always described as the age of chaos and contention. A comment, my logical side argues, on why people turn to mysticism. The past age was always better.” “Childhood is the happiest time of life except when you’re a child,” said Jerry. “I understand you. True.”"

"“You fought well and you fought for justice.” “Justice?” Hawkmoon called after him as he left the room. “Is there such a thing?” “It can be manufactured in small quantities,” Fank told him. “But we have to work hard, fight well and use great wisdom to produce just a tiny amount.”"

"It is many years since I have wielded a weapon larger than a pen, borne anything weightier than a difficult problem in philosophy."

"“And is adventure and sensation all we should seek, Meliadus?” “Aye—why not? All is chaos, there is no meaning to existence, there is only one advantage to living one’s life and that is to discover all the sensations the human mind and body is capable of feeling.”"

"Every court must have its fool, every great ideal must attract some who are motivated only by self-interest."

"And then he pursed his lips in disgust. “Doubtless that was the result of supernatural interference with our brains! How I hate the supernatural!”"

"“I think you serve a great purpose, Hawkmoon. I think your destiny is a noble one.” Hawkmoon laughed. “And yet I do not pine for a noble destiny—merely a secure one.”"

"“I have heard it said it is often safer to dwell in the lion’s lair than outside it,” Oladahn said. “Safer still to live in a land where there are no lions,” Count Brass retorted."

"Machine-devoured, all his hours were given o’er to that insidious circuitry, and old grew he, unnoticing, in the service of his engines."

"Wild days, wild riders, and the stink of warfare across the world!"

"Only Bowgentle, the philosopher-poet, his old friend, had an inkling of what he meant and even then Bowgentle believed that it reflected not on the nature of the landscape but on the particular nature of Count Brass’s mind. “You’re exhausted, disorientated,” Bowgentle would say. “The ordering mechanism of the brain is working too hard, so you see a pattern to existence that, in fact, only stems from your own weariness and disturbance...”"

"For this was the great power of the Lords of the Dark Empire, that they valued nothing on all the Earth, no human quality, nothing within or without themselves. The spreading of conquest and desolation, of terror and torment, was their staple entertainment, a means of employing their hours until their spans of life were ended. For them, warfare was merely the most satisfactory way of easing their ennui..."

"“No denial would convince you,” D’Averc smiled, “so I will not offer you one.”"

"The hardest compromise to make is when you decide to appear to compromise. Often the deception becomes the reality long before you realize it."

"I would waste my rhetoric if I tried, for men are greedy and will not see the truth for the gleam of coin."

"Do not thank me for saving your life. You do not realize yet what I have saved it for."

"“I shall not be killed!” The count smiled scornfully, as if death were something that only others suffered."

"Magic, as far as Faustaff knew, rejected reason. Religion accepted it, of course, but hardly encouraged it. Only science accepted it and encouraged it. Faustaff suddenly saw mankind’s social and psychological evolution in a clear, simple light. Science alone accepted man as he was and sought to exploit his full potential."

"It is almost impossible to have a baseless snobbish opinion of the General Theory of Relativity."

"Orelli smiled to himself. It was a wickedly introspective smile as if he looked into his own soul and was pleased with the evil he found there."

"“Is that what you are? An android?” “You could find out if you made love to me.” Faustaff smiled and shook his head. “Sweetheart, you’re just not my type.” “I thought any young woman was your type, doctor.” “So did I till I met you.”"