"“Ah…if it’s not a glitch, and Welles seems certain that it’s not a glitch, then…what is it?” “A glitch. People who say that they have all the bugs usually haven’t turned over enough rocks.”"

"Perhaps the lines of nationalism and factionalism and every other goddamn “ism” in the world had reduced the chances for this weary planet. Or not. Nuclear devices had existed for over a century, and only four of them had ever been used in anger. This could be interpreted as proof of divine intervention, good luck, a sign that the human race was growing up, or ominous portent, depending upon one’s standing in the “half-empty, half-full” school of cocktail-party philosophy."

"She may look like a flake, but there’s somebody home in that head."

"“We go and pray! Gods must help,” Alura said almost calmly. “Have they ever helped before?” Max asked hopefully. “No.” Her shaggy blond head gave a mournful wag. Then she smiled ingenuously. “But maybe we pray wrong!”"

"Mankind had come so far in some ways, and in others remained up in the trees, chittering and throwing rocks at each other. If only the trees weren’t so close together. If only the rocks were smaller."

"Massive success and massive inertia are two sides of a coin."

"It was a light, brief kiss, but it was less an ending than a promise, and he was happy."

"Have you been wondering just where we are? After all, theologians have debated for centuries over the exact location of Heaven. Some have said that Heaven can be found beyond the stars. Some say it exists in the heart of Man, and others claim that it does not exist at all, that God is dead, or at least unemployed."

"“It looks as if this whole place was designed by pulling random pages out of 1950’s women’s magazines.” “Frightening, isn’t it?”"

"“I am Yali, and I would like to welcome you to Heaven. I hope you will enjoy your stay.” He laughed heartily, as at a private joke. “Yes, I most certainly hope you do. After all, some of you may stay forever. It is a nice place, actually, one of those infinitely rare situations where one is rewarded commensurately to one’s efforts. Surely that is Heaven by any man’s definition?”"

"The Gamers are so out of touch with reality that they were never considered a serious threat."

"There’s a fine line between sensible emotional restraint, and the withdrawal symptoms of a stimulus junkie denied her fix."

"Griffin shook his head. How could Millie be so cheerful every morning? He ought to steal a cup of her coffee and send it to R&D to be analyzed…"

"Must have been bad when the gods were alive, though. They might grant your prayer, they might grant your enemy’s, but they’d certainly grant their own. A god’s wishes wouldn’t have anything to do with what human beings wanted."

"Sweet reason and solid judgment and philosophical resignation, these were not common among sorcerers."

"No, no. Murder and war are not the same. The intent is different, and the intent counts for a good deal."

"Priests learn to be practical, if their gods don’t."

"Human beings are fragile, watery things. Death spells are the easiest magic there is."

"Civilization must have become awfully stereotyped before its collapse."

"War between the sexes had always seemed silly to Corbell. Too much fraternizing with the enemy, ha-ha."

"Suddenly Corbell missed Mirabelle terribly. He mourned her, not because she was dead, but because she was gone."

"Too much imagination and I’ll scare myself to death. Too little and I’ll get myself killed."

"My self-centeredness is as human as your fanaticism."

"He’s a computer. Perfect memory, rigid logic, no judgment. I forgot. I talked to him like a human being, and now—"

"He felt good. At worst he had found a brand-new way to die."

"You’re insane. Imagine my amazement."

"“Can you take orders?” “I was in the army.” “What does that mean?” “Means yes.”"

"Doctor, you keep asking me to see your point of view, which is based on ethics. You never see mine, which isn’t."

"It had been a long dull evening, with only the thought of leaving the party early to look forward to."

"She waited for him to explain a universe in which there was so much injustice."

"As I said, it was inevitable, and I don’t let laws of nature upset me."

"I sometimes wonder why the aristocracy isn’t extinct, the lot of you seem so stupid sometimes."

"And that’s another reason I don’t want contact between your species and mine. You’re all Crazy Eddies. You think every problem has a solution."

"He liked everything about the university except the students."

"“It’s a nitwit idea.” “Yes, sir.” “Nitwit ideas are for emergencies. You use them when you’ve got nothing else to try. If they work, they go in the Book. Otherwise you follow the Book, which is largely a collection of nitwit ideas that worked.”"

"“Perhaps I was expecting too much.” “Perhaps. We’re all waiting as fast as we can.”"

"Species evolve to meet the environment. An intelligent species changes the environment to suit itself. As soon as a species becomes intelligent, it should stop evolving."

"Rod privately suspected the Scots studied their speech off duty so they’d be unintelligible to the rest of humanity."

"And the air was full of the smell of burning bridges."

"What’s the justification for ancestor worship? You know what happens to a man without modern geriatrics: as he ages his brain cells start to die. Yet people tend to respect him, to listen to him."

"“How did you come to represent the belt?” “Aptitude tests said I had a high IQ and liked ordering people around. From there I worked my way up.” “We go by the vote.” “Popularity contests.” “It works. But it does have drawbacks. What government doesn’t?”"

"“For letting us examine their silly records they want to charge us a flat million marks!” “Pay it.” “It’s robbery.” “A Belter says that? Why don’t you have records on Mars?” “We were never interested. What for?” “What about abstract knowledge?” “Another word for useless.” “Then what makes you want useless knowledge enough to pay a million marks for it?” Slowly Nick matched his grin. “It’s still robbery. How in Finagle’s name did Earth know they’d need to know about Mars?” “That’s the secret of abstract knowledge. You get in the habit of finding out everything you can about everything. Most of it gets used sooner or later.”"

"The Perversity of the Universe Tends Toward a Maximum."

"I’m being chauvinistic, he told himself. I can’t judge an alien’s sanity by Belt standards, can I? His lip curled. Sure I can. That ship is badly designed."

"Brennan was an optimist. He didn’t expect to be caught."

"Sometimes there’s no point in giving up."

"There is never no hope left. Remember."

"Forget the infinities: Concentrate on detail."