Famous quotes

Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

English Italiano Polski עברית Français Português فارسی Español 中文 Русский Deutsch العربية हिन्दी 日本語 Ελληνικά Latina

Charles Sheffield

193 quotes

“He was acquitted; he must have been.” “Right. Good lawyer, tainted evidence. But that doesn’t mean he was innocent.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At stake with something more important than sex. At stake was life and death.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The same thing happens to every President. People tell a chief executive what they think he wants to hear. Rosy economic reports, high popularity figures, promising international changes, you name it. There’s a competition to be the first with good news. Anyone who tells bad news tends to get weeded out—even if all the real news is bad.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The lead prosecutor told the jury at my trial that I was “A sick parasite, preying on society.” Parasite on society; this, mind you, from a lawyer.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is one of the unfortunate aspects of the legal profession that excess carries no penalty. There is never, for a lawyer, such a thing as too much.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The important question wasn’t whether or not you thought you were the right one to lead. It was whether others believed you were.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You pursue progress, even if you suspect that it is an illusion.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was the age-old conundrum: How do I know that the ‘me’ who wakes after a night’s sleep is the same ‘me’ who went to bed? I don’t. I merely employ it as a working assumption, for lack of anything better.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Richard Nixon was protected from impeachment, so long as Spiro Agnew was Vice President and would assume the presidency in Nixon’s place. Half of Washington knew that Agnew was a crook, and a boneheaded one at that. They had to get rid of Agnew before they could really go after Nixon.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“More and more, she felt certain that the members of the Legion of Argos from the top down were mental cases. Prophecies, penances, holy cleansings, arbitrary murders to settle grievances, ethnic entry requirements, guns everywhere, regimented behavior, visitors who were effectively prisoners—all the signs of a paramilitary religious cult.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The leaders of the Legion of Argos were out-of-this-world mad. Rigid in outlook, intolerant of minor differences. In other centuries they would have led the Inquisition, tortured the heretics, burned the witches.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Right decision or wrong decision, it was a leader’s job to make it.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The heirs, naturally, wanted everything to be theirs as soon as possible. No one is more rapacious, ruthless, and impatient than a loving family member.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But remember, it was all hearsay.” “In Washington, hearsay’s the same as gospel truth.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What purpose and will didn’t tell you, unfortunately, was how to do something that must be done.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If deadly violence were to be committed, he was like me. He would think it better to give than to receive.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Could it wipe out life on Earth?” “Oh, I very much doubt that. Single-celled and oceanic forms will presumably survive. But it might make life impossible for humans.” “Actually, that tends to be my primary concern. Sponges and oysters will have to take care of themselves.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Is that what it takes to go all the way in politics? Ambition first, everything else back in the pack? And if it is, would any sane human want to have what it takes?”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you have died once, you become most reluctant to do so again.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The game never ended. If Sol were guaranteed to go nova tomorrow, today she would hear from lobbyists for sunscreen.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“TIG. Trust In Government. An old political principle, to give your organization a name that’s the opposite of what you mean.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An old axiom: when you are totally confused, don’t make things worse by talking.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Humans were inexplicable only if you assumed that they were logical.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The bad thing about being a world-class worrier was that being right was worse than being wrong.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you tried really hard, you could take that as a compliment.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Engineers are dangerous because they’re obsessed by facts and you can’t divert them or buy them off.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Other people’s jobs always seemed easier than yours until you actually had to do them.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Maddy listened closely to John’s voice. It was calm, but with an odd undercurrent of excitement. She thought, That weirdo, he’s enjoying this. If I were a failing component, I’d get more of his attention than I do now. Engineers!”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Maddy was not consumed by the immediate pressures of the here and now. She had been provided with a fatal indulgence: time to think.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some of the Argos Group records are awful strange. If I had to guess, I’d say there’s fiddlin’ going on that don’t sound like violins.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You went through life in public office, laying claim to high morality when you knew quite well that at heart you were totally immoral. You were well acquainted with the majority of the seven deadly sins. Certainly pride, anger, and greed had their place in your life. You could claim a lifelong familiarity with and affection for lust. And then, at an age when a man ought know himself, you discovered that your immorality had its limits.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The limits we assign to Nature sometimes define our own lack of imagination.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“D’you know what homeostasis is?” “I used to, before I rotted my brain with politics.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many plans featured that old standby, prayer. Its historical record of effectiveness apparently discouraged few people, although I, regrettably, am among the skeptics. All the churches were full. It is not clear to me exactly what prayers were being offered by their occupants. The temporary suspension, perhaps, of the laws of physics? The art galleries and theaters also reported record crowds. If religion is an opiate, art is an anodyne.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not clear to me whether the insouciance of youth will be the doom of humanity or its salvation. I prefer to think the latter, but I have my doubts.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’d make a case for saying anything that propagates itself in an intentional way qualifies to be thought of as alive.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The ship climbed steadily and laboriously up, away from the plane of the ecliptic. Finally, the parallax was sufficient to move the planets from their usual apparent positions. Mars, Earth, Venus, and Jupiter all sat in constellations that were no part of the familiar zodiac. Mercury was cowering close to the sun. Saturn alone, swinging out at the far end of her orbit, seemed right as seen from the ship. Bey Wolf, picking out their positions through a viewport, wondered idly how the astrologers would cope with such a situation. Mars seemed to be in the House of Andromeda, and Venus in the House of Cygnus. It would take an unusually talented practitioner to interpret those relationships and cast a horoscope for the success of this enterprise.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Earth has been regarded for centuries as a giant self-regulating machine, absorbing all changes, great and small, and diluting their effects until they become invisible on a global scale. Mankind has taken that stability for granted. Careless of consequences, we have watched as forests were cleared, lakes poisoned, rivers dammed and diverted, mountains leveled, whole plains dug out for their mineral and fuel content. And nothing disastrous happened. Earth tolerated the insults, and always she restored the status quo. Always—until now. Until finally some hidden critical point has been passed. The move away from a steady state is signalled in many ways: by increasing ocean temperatures, by drought and flood, by widespread loss of topsoil, by massive crop failure, and by the collapse of worldwide fishing industries.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The universe is all extremes. Monstrous gravity fields, or next-to-nothing ones; extreme cold, or heat so intense that solids and liquids cannot exist; multimillion atmosphere pressures, or near-vacuum. Ice or fire. Niflheim or Muspelheim: the ancient alternatives, imagined by humans long before the Expansion. It’s planets that are the oddities; the strange neutral zone between suns and space, the thin interface where moderate temperatures and pressures and gravity fields can exist. And if planets are anomalies, then planets able to support life are rarer yet—a zero-measure subset in that set of strangeness. And within that alien totality, where do humans fit?”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The prevailing theory to resolve this paradox comes from limited studies of Lo’tfian physiology. The male brain, it is believed, is highly organized and possesses powerful intelligence. However, it contains an unknown physical inhibitor, chemical in nature, that forbids the employment of that intelligence when in the presence of a Lo’tfian female. Confronted by such a female, the reasoning ability of the male Lo’tfian simply switches off. (A much weaker form of this phenomenon has been attributed to other species. See Human entry of this catalogue.) —From the Universal Species Catalog (Subclass: Sapients)”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hans Rebka sat on a rounded pyramid never designed for contact with the human posterior, and thought about luck. There was good luck, which mostly happened to other people. And there was bad luck, which usually happened to you. Sometimes, through observation, guile, and hard work, you could avoid bad luck—even make it look like good luck, to others. But you would know the difference, even if no one else did. Well, suppose that for a change good luck came your way. How should you greet that stranger to your house? You could argue that its arrival was inevitable, that the laws of probability insisted that good and bad must average out over long enough times and large enough samples. Then you could welcome luck in, and feel pleased that your turn had come round at last. Or you could hear what Hans Rebka was hearing: the small, still voice breathing in his ear, telling him that this good luck was an impostor, not to be trusted.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To a logical entity, such as myself, the behavior of organic intelligences such as yourself, provides many anomalies. For example, the history of humanity, the species concerning which my data banks have most information, is replete with cases where humans, on little or no evidence, have believed in impossibilities. They have accepted the existence of a variety of improbable entities: of gods and demons, of fairies and elves, of ‘good luck’ charms, of magic potions, of curses and hexes and evil eyes.” “Tally, if you’re going to blather about—” “But at the same time, humans and other organic intelligences often seem unwilling to accept the implications and consequences of their own legitimate scientific theories.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Although the schoolchildren of this country emerge from our institutions of supposed learning ninety percent illiterate, knowing nothing of science, nothing of technology, little geography, and less history, every one of them will tell you who rules the country. We are governed by the interaction of a President, learned judges, and our people’s representatives. Every child knows this; and every child is wrong. Perhaps it was once that way, but today the Court and President and Congress are either members of the old and wealthiest families, like the Michelsons and Brooks; or they have been bought and controlled by them. The sprawl of government passes and implements policies. But far fewer people, about a hundred in number, set policies.”
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source