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It was easy to cover up ignorance by the mystical word 'intuition.'
Isaac Asimov -
For it is the chief characteristic of the religion of science, that it works, and that such curses as that of Aporat’s are really deadly.
Isaac Asimov
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He is a dreamer of ancient times, or rather, of the myths of what ancient times used to be. Such men are harmless in themselves, but their queer lack of realism makes them fools for others.
Isaac Asimov -
It is only afterward that a new idea seems reasonable. To begin with, it usually seems unreasonable.
Isaac Asimov -
Radiation, unlike smoking, drinking, and overeating, gives no pleasure, so the possible victims object.
Isaac Asimov -
The last question was asked for the first time, half in jest, on May 21, 2061, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light. The question came about as a result of a five dollar bet over highballs, and it happened this way…
Isaac Asimov -
The easiest way to solve a problem is to deny it exists.
Isaac Asimov -
Societies create their own history and tend to wipe out lowly beginnings, either by forgetting them or inventing totally fictitious heroic rescues.
Isaac Asimov
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Can the word ‘best’ mean anything at all, except to some particular person in some particular mood? Perhaps not - so if we allow the word to stand as an absolute, you, or you, or perhaps you, may be appalled at omissions or inclusions or, never having read me before, may even be impelled to cry out, ‘Good heavens, are those his best?’
Isaac Asimov -
When you write a short story ... you had better know the ending first. The end of a story is only the end to the reader. To the writer, it's the beginning. If you don't know exactly where you're going every minute you're writing, you'll never get there - or anywhere.
Isaac Asimov -
It seems to me, Golan, that the advance of civilization is nothing but an exercise in the limiting of privacy.
Isaac Asimov -
There is more to a science fiction story than the science it contains. There is also the story.
Isaac Asimov -
In my fiction I am careful to make everything probable and to tie up all loose ends. Real life is not hampered by such considerations.
Isaac Asimov -
Asimov: I don't know of any science fiction writer who really attempts to be a prophet. Such authors accomplish their tasks not by being correct in their predictions, necessarily, but merely by hammering home-in story after story-the notion that life is going to be different.
Isaac Asimov
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All life is nucleic acid; the rest is commentary
Isaac Asimov -
'Fifty years,' I hackneyed, 'is a long time.' 'Not when you’re looking back at them,' she said. 'You wonder how they vanished so quickly.'
Isaac Asimov -
Titles are an important part of a story and I take considerable care in choosing one. In fact, I cannot start a story until I have chosen a title.
Isaac Asimov -
You wait for the war to happen like vultures. If you want to help, prevent the war. Don't save the remnants. Save them all.
Isaac Asimov -
How can the net amount of entropy of the universe be massively decreased?
Isaac Asimov -
Once you've dissected a joke, you're about where you are when you've dissected a frog. It's dead.
Isaac Asimov
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The unwritten motto of United States Robot and Mechanical Men Corp. was well-known: 'No employee makes the same mistake twice. He is fired the first time.'
Isaac Asimov -
He believes in that mummery a good deal less than I do, and I don’t believe in it at all.
Isaac Asimov -
We abandoned the appearance of power to preserve the essence of it.
Isaac Asimov -
Courtiers don’t take wagers against the king’s skill. There is the deadly danger of winning.
Isaac Asimov