"“Ah, the future good!” Leebig’s eyes glowed with passion and he seemed to grow less conscious of his listener and correspondingly more talkative. “A simple concept, you think. How many human beings are willing to accept a trifling inconvenience for the sake of a large future good? How long does it take to train a child that what tastes good now means a stomach-ache later, and what tastes bad now will correct the stomach-ache later? Yet you want a robot to be able to understand?”"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Science fiction authors from the United StatesHumanistsScience authorsDetective fiction authorsBiochemists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Chapter 13, “A Roboticist is Confronted” (p. 346)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"Bien mal acquis ne profite jamais."
"Nothing succeeds like success."
"Genes aren’t everything. Environment counts too, and environment can bend into actual psychosis where genes indicate …"
"Civilizations have always been pyramidal in structure. As one climbs toward the apex of the social edifice, there is …"
"He had writer's block once. It was the worst ten minutes of his life."
"“Is that important?” “Everything is important till proven otherwise.”"
"There are degrees of justice, Elijah. When the lesser is incompatible with the greater, the lesser must give way."
"Remember, you once said, Lije, that people sometimes mistake their own shortcomings for those of society and want to …"
"A robot, the man had said, is logical but not reasonable."
"I have been trying, friend Julius, to understand some remarks Elijah made to me earlier. Perhaps I am beginning to, f…"