Larry Niven quotes - page 2

A machine has no mind to read; you never know when it's going to betray you. (Larry Niven)
As I said, it was inevitable, and I don't let laws of nature upset me. View quote
Larry Niven
10) Anarchy is the least stable of social structures. View quote
Larry Niven
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. View quote
Larry Niven
Gambling was safer than war. More fun, too. Best of all, it gave him better odds. View quote
Larry Niven
5) Psi and/or magical powers, if real, are nearly useless. View quote
Larry Niven
Think of it as evolution in action. View quote
Larry Niven
He liked everything about the university except the students. View quote
Larry Niven
Forget the infinities: Concentrate on detail. View quote
Larry Niven
I have a kind of psychic invisibility. As long as I can stay scared, I can keep people from seeing me. That's what we have to count on. View quote
Larry Niven
She waited for him to explain a universe in which there was so much injustice. (Larry Niven)
The majority is always sane. View quote
Larry Niven
1) Writers who write for other writers should write letters. View quote
Larry Niven
The morning was blacker than the inside of a smoker's lungs. View quote
Larry Niven
8) History never repeats itself. View quote
Larry Niven
SF isn't a genre; SF is the matrix in which genres are embedded, and because the SF field is never going in any one direction at any one time, there is hardly a way to cut it off. View quote
Larry Niven
Bruce Sterling is one terrific writer and he's relatively new, but I don't know how long he's been doing it; he probably doesn't need the publicity anymore! View quote
Larry Niven
Parlette spoke slowly and evenly. "I am trying to prevent a bloodbath. Is that clear enough for you? I'm trying to prevent a civil war that could kill half the people in this world." View quote
Larry Niven
Jesus Pietro wasn't used to dealing with ghosts. It would require brand new techniques. Grimly he set out to evolve them. View quote
Larry Niven
17) No technique works if it isn't used. View quote
Larry Niven
I'm no historian," said Harry. "But morals are morals. What's unethical here and now is unethical anywhere, anytime." "Kane, you're wrong. It is ethical to execute a man for theft?" "Of course." "Did you know that there was once a vastly detailed science of rehabilitation for criminals? It was a branch of psychology, naturally, but it was by far the largest such branch. By the middle of century twenty-one, nearly two-thirds of all criminals could eventually be released as cured." "That's silly. Why go to all that trouble when the organ banks must have been crying for - Oh. I see. No organ banks. (Larry Niven)
We follow the scientists around and look over their shoulders. They're watching their feet: provable mistakes are bad for them. We're looking as far ahead as we can, and we don't get penalized for mistakes. View quote
Larry Niven
Here is where the predictions failed: We didn't take Cargo Cult mentality into account: "if somebody has something I don't, he must have stolen it." We didn't understand how good we could get at communication - when you have something that someone else doesn't, the whole damn planet knows it. View quote
Larry Niven
He's a computer. Perfect memory, rigid logic, no judgment. I forgot. I talked to him like a human being, and now-. View quote
Larry Niven
I'd thought my way into this mess. I should be able to think my way out, shouldn't I? View quote
Larry Niven