Isaac Asimov Quotes
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There is no belief, however foolish, that will not gather its faithful adherents who will defend it to the death.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Societies create their own history and tend to wipe out lowly beginnings, either by forgetting them or inventing totally fictitious heroic rescues.
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But suppose we were to teach creationism. What would be the content of the teaching? Merely that a creator formed the universe and all species of life ready-made? Nothing more? No details?
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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.
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Weisinger, a couple of years ago, made up the following story: 'Isaac Asimov was asked how Superman could fly faster than the speed of light, which was supposed to be an absolute limit. To this Asimov replied, 'That the speed of light is a limit is a theory; that Superman can travel faster than light is a fact.''
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I was once being interviewed by Barbara Walters...In between two of the segments she asked me...'But what would you do if the doctor gave you only six months to live?' I said, 'Type faster.' This was widely quoted, but the 'six months' was changed to 'six minutes,' which bothered me. It's 'six months.'
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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?’
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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.
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Hypocrisy is a universal phenomenon. It ends with death, but not before.
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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.'
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It was easy to cover up ignorance by the mystical word 'intuition.'
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The easiest way to solve a problem is to deny it exists.
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A planet full of people meant nothing against the dictates of economic necessity!
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'That was the time to begin all-out preparations for war.' 'On the contrary. That was the time to begin all-out prevention of war.'
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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.
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SWA Magazine: Talking about spacecraft, what do you think about the shuttle program?
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'Reason', p. 63
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For man to become successful, for man to establish himself as the ruler of the planet, it was necessary for him to use his brain as something more than a device to make the daily routine of getting food and evading enemies a little more efficient. Man had to learn to control his environment.'
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The machine is only a tool after all, which can help humanity progress faster by taking some of the burdens of calculations and interpretations off its back. The task of the human brain remains what it has always been; that of discovering new data to be analyzed, and of devising new concepts to be tested.
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There is more to a science fiction story than the science it contains. There is also the story.
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Radiation, unlike smoking, drinking, and overeating, gives no pleasure, so the possible victims object.