David Brin Quotes
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The man talked, but somehow nothing he said seemed to make any sense.
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There was that word quaint again. It seemed to refer patronizingly to anything simple or backward, from the viewpoint of a city-bred tourist.
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He tried again, but their sullen, rural obstinacy was impervious to logic.
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We are having extreme difficulty with local gangs of 'Survivalists.' Fortunately, these infestations of egotists are mostly too paranoid to band together. They’re as much trouble to each other as to us, I suppose. Still, they are becoming a real problem.
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Alas, criticism has always been what human beings, especially leaders, most hate to hear.
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A dragon’s inertia is not shifted by yanking its tail.
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'I thought they were very good at what they did.''Of course they were good!' Brill glanced sharply. 'The issue is what one chooses to be good at. The arts are fine, for hobbies. I play six instruments, myself. But they pose no great challenge to a mature mind.'
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Loneliness, her arch enemy, never seemed content.
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But it’s not so hard, learning to picture yourself as part of a great chain. One that began long before you, and will go on long after.
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He was, after all, a diplomat, and understood that the best and firmest deals are based on open self-interest.
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Maia recognized a look of true religion in the other woman’s eyes. A version and interpretation that conveniently justified what had already been decided.
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All legends must be based on lies, Gordon realized. We exaggerate, and even come to believe the tales, after a while.
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'You think I'm kidding?' the pilot asked.'No, we think you're crazy.'
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As in elections, the law pretended universal rights, while securing the interests of powerful houses.
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Nation states are archaic leftovers from when each man feared the tribe over the hill, an attitude we can’t afford anymore.
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One of life’s joys was to have friends who gave you reality checks...who would call you on your crap before it rose so high you drowned in it.
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Nelson replayed his last musings to himself, and silently laughed. Listen to you! Jen was right. You're a born philosopher. In other words, full of shit.
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Had I been wrong, this would still have been the honorable thing to do.I am very glad, however, to find out that I was right.
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Learn to control ego. Humans hold their dogmas and biases too tightly, and we only think that our opponents are dogmatic! But we all need criticism. Criticism is the only known antidote to error.
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Prison for the crime of puberty-that was how secondary school had seemed, when he really thought back on it.