Jack McDevitt quotes - page 6

Never look for complexity in diplomatic decisions. With very few exceptions, actions always devolve-and that's the exact term-from someone's self-interest. Not the national self-interest, by the way. We are talking here about individual careers. (Jack McDevitt)
Like his father, he believed the universe a clockwork mechanism; and if there was a clockmaker, he'd hidden himself too well and had therefore no justifiable complaint with unbelievers. View quote
Jack McDevitt
Politics was a struggle for power, in its purest and simplest terms. If the voters were lucky, the winner would go on to improve their lot, because he would need their votes next time. Or because he enjoyed being popular. But issues were irrelevant. Always had been, probably. Once the age of mass communications arrived, presidents became entertainers, celebrities, if they were smart. FDR used his fireside chats; Kennedy had allowed spontaneous questions at press conferences, relying on wit and charm. Reagan knew from the films exactly how a president should behave, and he had exactly enough acting talent to bring it off. In that sense, he was the first modern president. View quote
Jack McDevitt
If you'll forgive me, sir, physics is not politics. You can't make things happen by trying harder. View quote
Jack McDevitt
We are forever trying to sell science because somebody somewhere will get a better toothbrush,” she grumbled. "Whatever happened to sheer curiosity? View quote
Jack McDevitt
The people who devised physical theory and constructed jump engines were not the same people who made political decisions, or who allowed themselves to be swept up by the current media craze, or to be ruled by centuries-old traditions that might once have served to hold nations together but now had become counterproductive. Don't assume that a species is intelligent because it produces intelligent individuals. View quote
Jack McDevitt