James S. A. Corey

"We’re still humans after all. Some percentage of us are always going to be assholes."

"Naomi couldn’t tell if she was more astounded by how much things had changed or how little."

"Some things stayed secrets even when you told them."

"She could remember the girl she used to be with fondness, but it wasn’t a youth she cared to recapture."

"“So you’re trying to get me prepared for one of my crew dying?” “Historically speaking, humans are pretty much at a hundred percent on that.”"

"Like the roaches and the rats, ants had learned to live with their human neighbors without much trouble. When the concrete of human cities spread across the globe and half the animals on Earth were on endangered lists, no one had worried about the ants. They were doing fine, thanks, and spilled fast food was just as plentiful and delicious as dead forest animals had once been. Adapt or die."

"“You look old, Fred.” “I feel old. But it’s better than the alternative.”"

"Holden couldn’t tell if she was melancholy or solving a complex engineering problem in her head. Those looks were confusingly similar."

"It was beautiful at this distance. The cities nothing but firefly twinkles on the dark side. Where the sun struck the Earth, almost nothing man had made was visible from the lunar orbit. The planet looked clean, unspoiled. It was a pretty lie. Seemed like a fact of the universe that the closer you got to anything, the worse it looked. Take the most beautiful person in the solar system, zoom in on them at the right magnification and they were an apocalyptic cratered landscape crawling with horrors. That’s what the Earth was. A shining jewel from space, up close a blasted landscape covered with mites living by devouring the dying."

"But under it there was a faint, not-unpleasant odor of rotting seaweed and salt. The ocean, just outside, seeped into everything. An olfactory reminder to everyone passing through the Ellis Island of the space age that Earth was absolutely unique to the human race. The birthplace of everything. The salt water flowing in everyone’s veins first pulled from the same oceans right outside the building. The seas had been around longer than humans, had helped create them, and then when they were all dead, it’d take their water back without a thought. That, at least, wasn’t a lie."

"Computers, it seemed, could be programmed to do almost anything but sense when someone was up to no good."

"“Long story, but the point is that if you hear hoofbeats in the distance, your first guess is that they’re horses, not zebras. And you’re hearing hoofbeats and jumping straight to unicorns.” “So what are you saying?” “I’m saying let’s go see if we can find some horses or zebras before we start a unicorn hunt.”"

"You can tell you’ve found a really interesting question when nobody wants you to answer it."

"Secrecy is the potting soil in which all this conspiracy shit grows. Trust me. The roaches don’t like it when you start shining a light on them."

"Alex’s experience of real family—of blood relations—was more like having a lot of people who had all wound up on the same mailing list without knowing quite why they signed up for it."

"Realizing you’ve got shit on your fingers is the first step toward washing your hands."

"You think you know what I am, she thought, but all you’ve got is stories."

"In order to be heard by the oppressing class, one must speak as a member of it. Not only the language, but the diction. The accusation of tyranny, however well-founded in fact, is dismissed unless it is delivered in the manner that power recognizes as powerful."

"Something in the back of her head shifted. The serpent of learned helplessness long asleep starting to wake. She pretended it wasn’t there, in hopes that if she denied it enough, it wouldn’t exist."

"“Sometimes you don’t get redeemed,” she said, and here voice made it clear she’d thought about the question. Tired and strong at the same time. “Not every stain comes out. Sometimes you do something bad enough that you carry the consequences for the rest of your life and take the regrets to the grave. That’s your happy ending.”"

"“You think we’re going to die?” “Yup.” “Of this?” “Maybe.”"

"“You are a special flower.” “Well, sure. Just not used to anybody appreciating it.”"

"The only right you have with anyone in life is the right to walk away."

"“I never thought I’d feel wind again. I never thought I’d be outside. It’s so beautiful.” Amos glanced around the ruins and shrugged. “That’s got a lot to do with context, I guess.”"

"His head hurt. His back hurt. He couldn’t feel his legs. It was all distressing until his mind came back enough for him to realize it meant he hadn’t died."

"The aliens that sent the protomolecule hadn’t needed to destroy humanity. They’d given humans the opportunity to destroy themselves, and as a species, they’d leaped on it."

"History’s made of surprises that seem obvious in retrospect."

"That sounds like post hoc realpolitik rationalizing bullshit."

"“I try to do the right thing, Holden. But there are times when it’s not obvious what that is.” “I agree with you,” Holden said. “Right up to the part where you tell me this is one of those times.”"

"She knew intellectually that he was beautiful, the way the iridescent wings of a carrion fly would be."

"Militia motherfucker. NO TRESPASSING signs and everything. Took a potshot at me when I went to ask for some water. Kind of asshole that’s probably pissing himself with glee that the world went to shit and made his stashed guns and paranoia pay off."

"Thing about civilization, it’s what keeps people civil. You get rid of one, you can’t count on the other."

"Thing is, we’re humans. We’re tribal. More settled things are, the bigger your tribe is. All the people in your gang, or all the people in your country. All the ones on your planet. Then the churn comes, and the tribe gets small again."

"Amazing how much we’ve managed to do, considering how we’re doing it all with jumped-up social primates and evolutionary behaviors from the Pleistocene."

"She wanted to care, but she didn’t. She didn’t have time."

"“Panicking people for no reason—” “Panicking at this point isn’t unreasonable,” Monica said. “And deciding for people what they should get to know so they do what you think they should do? That isn’t how the good guys act, and you know it. It’s paternalistic, it’s condescending, and it’s beneath you. Maybe not them, The political movers and shakers. But it’s beneath you.”"

"There was no amount of double-checking that would ever prove that nothing had been missed."

"Bobbie sighed. “You know, a thousand of those stars out there are ours now. That’s like, what? Three ten-thousandths of a percent of our galaxy? That’s what we’re fighting over.” “You think?” “You don’t?” “Nah,” Alex said. “I figure we’re fighting over who gets the most meat from the hunt and first access to the water hole. Mating rights. Who believes in which gods. Who has the most money. The usual primate issues.” “Kids,” Bobbie said. “Kids?” “Yeah. Everyone wanting to make sure their kids have a better shot than they did. Or than everyone else’s kids. Something like that.” “Yeah, probably,” Alex said."

"“My own kind,” she said. “Let me tell you about my own kind. There are two sides in this, but they aren’t inner planets and outer ones. Belters and everyone else. It’s not like that. It’s the people who want more violence and the ones who want less. And no matter what other variable you sample out of, you’ll find some of both.”"

"“See, that’s what civilization is,” he said. “Bunch of stories. That’s all.” “So what if it is?” Peaches said. “We’re really good at telling stories.”"

"“It’s good being young,” he said, “but some people wear it better than others.”"

"He told himself that, but he was getting less and less persuasive. Not knowing was the worst thing. The second-worst thing as being chased by a bunch of top-of-the-line warships that really wanted to kill you."

"She grinned to herself. Safe. That sounded like a good plan. She should try that for a change."

"“Seriously?” “Yep.” “That’s a really stupid way to go through life.” “It’s how most people do.” “Then most people are really stupid.”"