"If I could only have seen her when I was a young man! The contemplation of her beauty might have changed my whole life. Beauty can do that, can’t it?"

"Why do you stand there staring at me? You and I have nothing in common except our hatred of each other."

"“Oh, misery!” screamed the doctor. “Why do they have to fight so when there is nothing to fight about? They are as stupid as humans."

"Mrs. Cassan always went to fortunetellers. When none was available she cast the cards or séanced with ouija. She had had her future foretold so many times that in order to fulfill all the forecasts she would have to live ninety-seven more years and encounter and charm a war-strength regiment of tall, dark men."

"“Well,” said the chief in disgust, “there’s two people I don’t never argue with: one’s a woman and the other’s a damn fool. And you aint no woman!”"

"It had always been my belief that beauty was a modification of sex. Life sings a song of sex. Sex is the scream of life."

"“Do you think you’ve ever made a difference to the course of linear events?” I inquired. “Have you, personally, ever affected the outcome of a war?” “Fuck no!” He chuckled. “We’re just fucking soldiers. We kill some guys, they kill our guys, we kill their guys back—none of it fucking means anything, you know? Just numbers on a page, and only when the numbers get big enough do the fat cats who decide this shit sit down and go, ‘Wow, let’s make the decisions we were always gonna have to make anyway.’ I’m no threat to temporal events, partner—I’m just the fire in the stove. And you know the best bit?” He beamed, climbing to his feet, tossing a fist full of bunched-up notes into the corner of the hut, like a master throwing scraps to a pet. “None of it fucking matters. Not one bullet, not one drop of blood. None of it makes any fucking difference at all.”"

"“Politics,” he spat. “Everyone is always looking for material to use against everybody else.”"

"There is no loss, if you cannot remember what you have lost."

"A scientific argument must have some degree of data, some…some sniff of theoretical basis behind it; otherwise it’s not a scientific argument, it’s a philosophical debate."

"Time was simple, is simple. We can divide it into simple parts, measure it, arrange dinner by it, drink whisky to its passage. We can mathematically deploy it, use it to express ideas about the observable universe, and yet if asked to explain it in simple language to a child–in simple language which is not deceit, of course–we are powerless. The most it ever seems we know how to do with time is to waste it."

"Knowledge is not a substitute for ingenuity, merely an accelerant."

"Pure science is no more and no less than the logical process of deduction and experimentation upon observable events. It has no good or bad about it, merely right or wrong in a strictly mathematical definition. What people do with that science is cause for ethical debate, but it is not for the true scientist to concern themselves with that. Leave it to the politicians and philosophers."

"The roads were defined merely by the place where the mud was most pressed down."

"Complexity should be your excuse for inaction."

"“Go with it?”… “Don’t fight against inevitability,” I translated loosely. “Life is until it is not, so why get fussed? Don’t hurt anyone, try not to give your dinner guests food poisoning, be clean in word and deed—what else is there? Just be a decent person in a decent world.” “Everyone’s a decent person,” she replied softly, “in their own eyes.”"

"Men must be decent first and brilliant later, otherwise you’re not helping people, just servicing the machine."

"Surely even the most vehement of ideologues couldn’t find anything wrong with Norway?"

"“I have to congratulate you,” she murmured as we walked, “on the thoroughness of your preparations. Every document and contact indicates that you are who you claim to be, a great achievement considering that you are not.”"

"The world is ending, as it always must. But the end of the world is getting faster."

"All things are known, but most things are forgotten. It takes a special magic to remember them."

"“Have I told you about Christ?” “Ghost-born-man-walking-on-water-telling-stories-dead-on-tree. Yes. You’ve told me about him. Show me more feathers.”"

"Lavondyss for you—for all of us—is what we are able to remember of ancient times…”"

"“I really didn’t mean to steal it.” Mr. Williams shook his head. He scratched at his chin nervously. “Why not? That’s what they’re there for. Tunes belong to everybody. So do stories.”"

"Nothing has happened until it happens."

"God grew out of the memories of powerful men."

"“Where have you been?” he asked. “Walking in the woods,” she said."

"When so much is lost in the dark of time there must be a myth to glorify that lost knowledge."

"Skills used unselfishly make for cooperation."

"When people can have pretty much whatever they want for the asking, and when privacy and security can be assured by the same technologies...well, pretty soon no one needs a government for much."

"“I’m sure you’ll figure out how to make a system of simple laws that work.” “Yes, right after the perpetual motion machine I’m patenting,” he said cheerfully."

"“So,” Simon said slowly, looking around at the others, “the Leader of Humanity is going to risk herself on a ship with a sometimes devious ally, traveling to some secret destination in the Deeps of the Arena, to confront some nameless force where there won’t even be a Sky Gate to help us return if things go wrong?” He stood and lifted his glass. “Sign me up, Captain!”"

"I cannot help but think that anyone who wants power for those reasons really is not the person I want to have it."

"“Though I hope we get out more, the Arena looks fascinating and all this talk-talk-talk is making me itchy, and no one’s tried to kill the captain yet!” Orphan gave a subdued buzz-chuckle. “One would almost think you want her to be attacked.” “Well, of course! What use being a bodyguard if you never actually get to do any WORK?”"

"“Although I cannot pretend it is merely a social visit.” “Of course—and in truth, I would be disappointed if it were! You have so much to learn, as do we, and to waste that time merely on formalities?”"

"His hand contracted on the odd carven rod, a tiny thing that glittered with hints of lights and circuits and, at the same time, bone and gems, a wand constructed by an engineer, or a transmitter assembled by a shaman."

"It almost sounds romantic, in a facing-execution-together sort of way."

"“But there has to be an alternative.” “Why does there have to be one, Captain Austin?” Sethrik asked quietly. “Often the universe does not give us choices.”"

"Hmph. Just remembered that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent— Yeah, Duquesne interrupted with a grin, because the competent resort to violence MUCH sooner, before it’s too late!"

"They have certain rather insular attitudes which makes it difficult to maintain any long-term cooperation. It is not pleasant to work with someone who thinks of your entire species as a waste of resources."

"I am a scientist. I do not believe in gods or demons."

"Your problem, you pea-brained, overbearing, pompous crayfish, is that you think you have any idea of what you’re dealing with."

"If you’re a sensible man, you get in the habit of being very cautious of making extreme pronouncements when one’s in the sciences, especially when it’s not your core field."

"But you know there’s always that nagging set of voices out there worried that someone is doing something bad with that freedom—and of course the problem is, sometimes they’re right."

"People don’t mind poking into other people’s business—they just don’t want other people poking into theirs."

"In safety and in security, in peril and plague, in victory and vengeance, may your course be ever your own."

"Living creatures are essentially biological carbon-based nanotech."

"I will admit that I have not heard that he would directly violate his word or go back on a bargain, though he is certainly more than capable of obfuscation and creative interpretation where it suits him."

"Well, like many fanatic creeds, if you accept the basic postulates, you can make a twisted sense out of anything."

"Maybe you should’ve been more careful, but hindsight’s perfect and we aren’t."