Jack Vance Quotes
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'I think that I will not answer that question,' he said at last. 'I would create as many false images as there were ears to hear me.''Half as many,' Clissum pointed out delicately.
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Gassoon, for all his lore, subscribed to a common fallacy: he assumed that all those whom he encountered appraised him in the same terms as he did himself.
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Yes, I realize that I see but a semblance, but so do you, and who is to say which is real?
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I have transcended that phase in my intellectual growth where I discover humour in simple freakishness. What exists is real; therefore it is tragic, since wherever lives must die. Only fantasy, the vapours rising from sheer nonsense, can now excite my laughter.
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Until work has reached its previous stage nympharium privileges are denied to all.
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'Why not alter the habits of a lifetime and speak with candour?' asked Shimrod. 'Truth, after all, need not be only the tactic of last resort.'
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'Let them scoff as they see fit! I will never compromise what I consider my art, especially for the sake of gain!''For the sake of gain I’d compromise the art of my grandmother,' muttered Zamp under his breath.
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The less a writer discusses his work-and himself-the better. The master chef slaughters no chickens in the dining room; the doctor writes prescriptions in Latin; the magician hides his hinges, mirrors, and trapdoors with the utmost care.
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'Sir Tristano spoke: 'Stop! You are taking the great green pearl!''Naturally!' said the voice from a point close behind. 'That is the whole point of robbery: to acquire the victim’s valuables!'
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Die then. This is my cure for sore knees.
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What a strange and unfamiliar world if everyone were treated according to his deserts!
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I never made lots of money at it, but I sold enough.
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Kings, like children, tend to be opportunistic. Generosity only spoils them. They equate affability with weakness and hasten to exploit it.
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There can be no doubt as to the facts as I have stated them. Orthodoxy derives from this axiomatic foundation, and the two systems are mutually reinforcing: hence each is doubly validated.
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If one basic axiom controls the cosmos, it must be this: In a situation of infinity every possible condition occurs, not once, but an infinite number of times.
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An inch of foreknowledge is worth ten miles of after-thought.
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Cease the bickering! I am indulging the exotic whims of a beautiful princess and must not be distracted.
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He said that humanity in the main was crass, stupid, boorish and vulgar, and that I could learn at least this much from you.
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I am not called Cugel the Clever for nothing.
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Aillas groaned. 'Destiny could never be so unkind.'Suldrun said in a soft voice: 'Destiny doesn’t really care.'
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We’ll rack our brains and either solve your problem or come up come up with new and better ones.
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'Down we go,' said Paddy. 'Now pray to Saint Anthony if you be a good Catholic-''I'm not,' snapped Fay, 'and if you'll give more mind to the boat and less to religion we’ll gain by it.'
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And, stretching in languid warmth, she contrived to twist her body into first one luxurious position, then another.
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The colour, noise and festivity failed to elevate Carfilhiot’s mood; in fact-so he told himself-never had he witnessed so much pointless nonsense.