David Brin quotes - page 4

Of course, sometimes a species' invention only benefited itself. Goats developed an ability to eat almost anything, right down to the roots. Goats proliferated. Deserts spread behind them. Then another creature appeared, one whose originality was unprecedented. Its numbers grew. And in its wake some other types did flourish. The common cat and dog. The rat. Starlings and pigeons. And the cockroach. Meanwhile, opportunity grew sparse for those less able to share the vast new riches-huge expanses of plowed fields and mowed lawns, streets and parking lots... The coming of the grasses had left its mark indelibly on the history of the world. So would the Age of Asphalt and Concrete. (David Brin)
Life is the continuation of existence, yet no thing endures. We are all patterns, seeking to propagate. Patterns which bring other patterns into being, then vanish, as if we've never been. View quote
David Brin
He managed to lie by implication while speaking words that were the literal truth, a skill he had grown good at, if not proud of. View quote
David Brin
Intelligence is loose in the galaxy. Power is in our hands, for better or worse. We can modify Nature's rules, if we dare, but we cannot ignore her lessons. View quote
David Brin
Piss on the world, or it'll piss on you. View quote
David Brin
The lesson they took home with them was simple; it takes a full belly before a man or woman gives a tinker's damn about anything as large as a planet. View quote
David Brin
It is dangerous these days for a male to write even glancingly on feminist themes. Did anyone attack Margaret Atwood's right to extrapolate religio-machismo in The Handmaid's Tale? Women writers appear vouchsafed insight into the souls of men-credit that seldom flows the other way. It is a sexist and offensive assumption, which does not advance understanding. View quote
David Brin
Apparently, the Fates were not so unsubtle as to deal him another blow just yet. He knew they didn't operate that way. They always let you hope for a while longer, then strung it out before they really let you have it. View quote
David Brin
The good side of the world media village was the sense it gave ten billion that each of them had at least some small connection with the whole. The bad side was that no one ever encountered anything, anymore, that was completely new. View quote
David Brin
Loneliness, her arch enemy, never seemed content. View quote
David Brin
He tried again, but their sullen, rural obstinacy was impervious to logic. (David Brin)
Is there an inverse relation between knowledge and wisdom? At times it seems the more we know, the less we understand. I am not the first to note this quandary. One scholar recently wrote, "Lysos and her followers chase the siren call of pastoralism, like countless romantics before them, idealizing a past Golden Age that never was, pursuing a serenity possible only in the imagination.”. View quote
David Brin
What was it like, he wondered, to care about something so passionately? He suspected it made her somehow more alive than he was. View quote
David Brin
The heritage we give our children, and the myths we leave to sustain them, must work with the tug and press of life, or they will fail. Adaptability has to be enshrined alongside stability, or the ghost of Darwin will surely come back to haunt us, whispering in our ears the penalty of conceit. We wish our descendants happiness. But over time one criterion alone will judge our efforts. Survival. View quote
David Brin
It's clear that male human beings should never have been left in control of the world all these centuries. Many of you are wonderful beyond belief, but too many others will always be bloody lunatics. Your sex is simply built that way. Its better side gave us power and light, science and reason, medicine and philosophy. Meanwhile the dark half spent its time dreaming up unimaginable hells and putting them into practice. View quote
David Brin
After all,” he muttered, "what can they do to shake the confidence of a fellow who's got delusions of adequacy? View quote
David Brin
All right,” she said. "You've convinced me. Men are good for something, after all. View quote
David Brin
Daisy had learned not to pay much heed to techno-fads. To her fell the task of preserving as much as possible, so that when humanity finally did fall, it wouldn't take everything else to the grave with it. View quote
David Brin
Blatant idiocies had been tried by early men and women-foolishness that would never have been considered by species aware of the laws of nature. Desperate superstitions had bred during the savage centuries. Styles of government, intrigues, philosophies were tested with abandon. It was almost as if Orphan Earth had been a planetary laboratory, upon which a series of senseless and bizarre experiments were tried. View quote
David Brin
Anyone who tries to predict the future is inevitably a fool. Present company included. A prophet without a sense of humor is just stupid. View quote
David Brin
Some smart moves were little more than nicely padded traps. (David Brin)
You can't fight biology. Only push at the rules, here and there. View quote
David Brin
Naroin stopped, shook her head. "Take it from an experienced hand, child. It's no good blamin' yourself for what you couldn't prevent. Not so long as you tried.” Maia's lips pressed together. That was exactly what she had been telling herself. From the look in Naroin's eyes, it didn't get much more believable as you got older. View quote
David Brin
A sane being wished for peace and serenity, not to be the mortar in which the ingredients of destiny are finely ground. View quote
David Brin
What kind of man takes a live bomb across the seas in order to blow up other people? People who have mothers and lovers and children, just like him? Probably either a professional or a patriot, Alex thought. Or, worse, both. View quote
David Brin