Larry Niven Quotes
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3) Stories to end all stories on a given topic, don't.
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Tell them the universe is too complicated a toy for a sensibly cautious being to play with.
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Forget the infinities: Concentrate on detail.
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A machine has no mind to read; you never know when it’s going to betray you-
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The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program.
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I love superconductors.
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Think of it as evolution in action.
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17) No technique works if it isn't used.
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In hindsight it may even seem inevitable that a socialist society will starve when it runs out of capitalists.
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Putting a monkey wrench in machinery is often the only way to force somebody to repair, replace, or redesign the machinery. Especially legal or social machinery.
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The human species really could have faced global thermonuclear war. During seventy years of Cold War we grew used to it.
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Jesus Pietro was worried. The Sons of Earth, if they got this far, would go straight to the vivarium to free their compatriots. But if Matthew Keller was his own agent... If the ghost of Alpha Plateau was not a rebel, but a thing with its own unpredictable purpose... Jesus Pietro worried.
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The Gods do not protect fools. Fools are protected by more capable fools.
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2) Never fire a laser at a mirror.
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Treat your life like something to be sculpted.
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We're looking as far ahead as we can, and we don't get penalized for mistakes.
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'You look like a girl with a secret,' Matt said. 'I think it must be the smile.' She moved closer to him, which was very close, and lowered her voice. 'Can you keep a secret?' Matt smiled with one side of his mouth to show that he knew what was coming. She said it anyway. 'So can I.'
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It had been a long dull evening, with only the thought of leaving the party early to look forward to.
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We learn only to ask more questions.
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There’s always another problem behind the one you just solved. Does that mean that you should stop solving problems?
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A thrint was master over every intelligent beast. This was the Powergiver’s primal decree, made before he made the stars. So said all of the twelve thrintun religions, though they fought insanely over other matters.
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'Do you play games of chance?''Emphatically yes. The process of living is a game of chance. To avoid chance is insanity.'
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The majority is always sane.
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Species evolve to meet the environment. An intelligent species changes the environment to suit itself. As soon as a species becomes intelligent, it should stop evolving.