David Brin quotes

It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. (David Brin)
When it comes to privacy and accountability, people always demand the former for themselves and the latter for everyone else. View quote
David Brin
The worst mistake of first contact, made throughout history by individuals on both sides of every new encounter, has been the unfortunate habit of making assumptions. It often proved fatal. View quote
David Brin
Change is the principal feature of our age and literature should explore how people deal with it. The best science fiction does that, head-on. View quote
David Brin
Ideologies are too seductive anyway. It does a man good to see things from a different point of view. View quote
David Brin
We already live a very long time for mammals, getting three times as many heartbeats as a mouse or elephant. It never seems enough though, does it? View quote
David Brin
We can't save the world without food. Only people with full stomachs become environmentalists. View quote
David Brin
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. View quote
David Brin
Beware of assumptions that seem "obvious” in one decade. They may become quaint in the next. View quote
David Brin
She had called in the debt that parents owe a child for bringing her, unasked, into a strange world. One should never make an offer without knowing full well what will happen if it is accepted. View quote
David Brin
Life is not fair...Anyone who says it is, or even that it ought to be, is a fool or worse. (David Brin)
I like to be surprised. Fresh implications and plot twists erupt as a story unfolds. Characters develop backgrounds, adding depth and feeling. Writing feels like exploring. View quote
David Brin
Prison for the crime of puberty -- that was how secondary school had seemed. View quote
David Brin
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. View quote
David Brin
I hate the whole übermensch, superman temptation that pervades science fiction. I believe no protagonist should be so competent, so awe-inspiring, that a committee of 20 really hard-working, intelligent people couldn't do the same thing. View quote
David Brin
In all of history, we have found just one cure for error-a partial antidote against making and repeating grand, foolish mistakes, a remedy against self-deception. That antidote is criticism. View quote
David Brin
A neurosis defends itself by coming up with rationalizations to explain away bizarre behavior. View quote
David Brin
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. View quote
David Brin
Cultural contamination that is directed outward is always seen as ‘enlightenment.' View quote
David Brin
Only a knowledgeable, empowered and vocal citizenry can perform well in democracy. View quote
David Brin
History and geology show what an eyeblink it's been since our current, comfortable culture came about. And yet that culture is using up absolutely everything at a ferocious rate. (David Brin)
Alas, criticism has always been what human beings, especially leaders, most hate to hear. View quote
David Brin
Creative people see Prometheus in a mirror, never Pandora. View quote
David Brin
What point was there in pursuing an ever-elusive popularity? View quote
David Brin
Petals floating by, Drift through my woman's hand, As she remembers me. View quote
David Brin