David Brin Quotes
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The worst mistake of first contact, made throughout history by individuals on both sides of every new encounter, has been the unfortunate habit of making assumptions. It often proved fatal.
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Freedom was wonderful beyond relief. But with it came that bitch, Duty.
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Daisy had learned not to pay much heed to techno-fads. To her fell the task of preserving as much as possible, so that when humanity finally did fall, it wouldn’t take everything else to the grave with it.
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prudence to recklessness
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Cultural contamination that is directed outward is always seen as 'enlightenment.'
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Some smart moves were little more than nicely padded traps.
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He wasn’t afraid of dying, only of having not done all he could, and not properly spitting in the eye of death when it came for him. That final gesture was important.
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You can’t fight biology. Only push at the rules, here and there.
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The good side of the world media village was the sense it gave ten billion that each of them had at least some small connection with the whole. The bad side was that no one ever encountered anything, anymore, that was completely new.
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The notions she fought with needed more than the simple algebra she’d been grudgingly taught at Lamai Hold. More and more she resented how they had robbed her of this, arguably her one talent, driving her from math and other abstractions by the simple expedient of making them seem boring.
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On this occasion, despite the wind and sparkling stars, they looked just like huge chunks of stone, pathetically chiseled by desperate folk to resemble stern gods. People did bizarre things when they were afraid...as most men and women had been for nearly all the time since the species evolved.
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I hate the whole übermensch, superman temptation that pervades science fiction. I believe no protagonist should be so competent, so awe-inspiring, that a committee of 20 really hard-working, intelligent people couldn't do the same thing.
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It was silly to suppose that trials only hardened men, automatically making them wise. He knew many who were stupid, arrogant, and mean, in spite of having suffered.
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You don’t have conversations with microprocessors. You tell them what to do, then helplessly watch the disaster when they take you literally!
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The same was true of the most popular girls. They had no empathy, no compassion for more normal kids.
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There’s no urgency, a third voice urged, pleading compromise. No duty calls. Hold onto the illusion a little longer.So she tried to go on pretending. After all, can’t believing sometimes make dreams come true?No, it can’t. Besides, you're awake now.
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He managed to lie by implication while speaking words that were the literal truth, a skill he had grown good at, if not proud of.
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Every marvel of our age arose out of the critical give and take of an open society. No other civilization ever managed to incorporate this crucial innovation, weaving it into daily life. And if you disagree with this ... say so!
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It was better to imagine a sacrifice being for something.
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At her station in life, wisdom dictated keeping a low profile.And yet...
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'All right,' she said. 'You’ve convinced me. Men are good for something, after all.'
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The lesson they took home with them was simple; it takes a full belly before a man or woman gives a tinker’s damn about anything as large as a planet.
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'Life is the continuation of existence, yet no thing endures. We are all patterns, seeking to propagate. Patterns which bring other patterns into being, then vanish, as if we’ve never been.'
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'After all,' he muttered, 'what can they do to shake the confidence of a fellow who’s got delusions of adequacy?'