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Kage Baker
71 quotes
“Smashing things is the violent way stupid mortal monkeys solve their problems.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No nation, creed, or race was any better or worse than another; all were flawed, all were equally doomed to suffering, mostly because they couldn’t see that they were all alike. Mortals might have been contemptible, true, but not evil entirely. They did enjoy killing one another and frequently came up with ingenious excuses for doing so on a large scale—religions, economic theories, ethnic pride—but we couldn’t condemn them for it, as it was in their moral natures and they were too stupid to know any better.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Imagine being told that it hadn’t mattered whether the Christians or the Moors got Spain! I can still remember my shock. I got over it fairly quickly, though, because by that time I had learned enough history to know that in the long run it never mattered a damn where any particular race of people planted its collective ass.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The leaf that spreads in the sunlight is the only holiness there is. I haven’t found holiness in the faiths of mortals, nor in their music, nor in their dreams: it’s out in the open field, with the green rows looking at the sky. I don’t know what it is, this holiness: but it’s there, and it looks at the sky.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And what a clever guy this Harpole is, isn’t he? Awfully good at noticing all kinds of little unusual things about people and keeping them on file in his head. So he’s built a theory around us, has he? He added two and two and came up with five, but nobody else in the house was aware there was anything to count.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Funny thing about those Middle Ages,” said Joseph. “They just keep coming back. Mortals keep thinking they’re in Modern Times, you know, they get all this neat technology and pass all these humanitarian laws, and then something happens: there’s an economic crisis, or science makes some discovery people can’t deal with. And boom, people go right back to burning Jews and selling pieces of the true Cross. Don’t you ever make the mistake of thinking that mortals want to live in a golden age. They hate thinking.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How could millennia-old superbeings be so boring?”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I may cut my coat to follow fashion, sir, but not my conscience.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They find us outlandish,” Lopez admitted. “Extravagant. Eclectic. Unfathomable.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Like children, they’re bored by complicated things. More than bored: they feel threatened. Give a child mashed potatoes and butter, and he’s happy. He doesn’t want to try the rich sauce with capers, in fact he’ll cry if he’s forced to taste it. You see what I mean? But, listen, Joseph. A child is easy to control. Keep him happy, and he’ll believe what he’s told to believe.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Has there ever been a revolution that produced something better than what it overthrew? The only thing people learn from being oppressed is how to oppress others!”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you hear a story, do you believe only the nice parts? Truth isn’t like a baked fish, where you can eat the flesh and leave the bones and skin. You have to eat it all.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The awful bottom line, of course, is that if you’re going to rule the world, you have to have absolute power, and everybody knows what absolute power does.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“True believers aren’t real receptive to the idea that what they’re telling you is just mythology.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you laugh at something, you don’t fear it anymore.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The same intact culture that made them good businessmen also made many of them lousy parents.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’ve been in the entertainment industry ever since, in one capacity or another. It’s better than the Inquisition. Usually.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Faith and its attendant rituals sound like a good deal, the whole eternal salvation thing, but inevitably they lead to fear, oppression, the rack and flames.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ah, Los Angeles. One disaster after another, always has been.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I looked up at several pockmarks in the nearest wall; if they weren’t bullet holes, the place had damned big hailstones.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sight-seeing is the art of disappointment,” I quoted.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had a productive day, without the distraction of conversation.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Did you know what would happen next? Did you know and sit there like God, silent, remorseless, useless?”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“His nation of liberty was founded on the backs of Negro slaves and at the cost of exterminating the aborigines. As far as I can tell, the Yankee’s idea of freedom is his right to carry a pistol with which he may shoot strangers in the street.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Privilege tends to soften the brain, or so I’ve observed.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A missionary may persuade a painted savage to worship a cross rather than an idol; but he will not make laws that send that savage’s children to school, where they might learn to make the desert they inhabit another Eden by means of the advanced sciences. He may persuade his flock to love one another for his God’s sake, but he’ll invariably urge them to slaughter any neighboring tribe that still worships stone idols. This is the failure of religion as a force for the common welfare.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Any brute will demand his right to be a law unto himself, beating his wife and his children as he pleases, and defend that right with his father’s rifle and think himself a patriot.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And when there is peace at last, and when men are no longer distracted by the ravages of war and crime, then the real work begins. Mankind has grasped at science and invention to improve his lot; when he truly understands that he can wield those tools to improve himself, he will lay the cornerstone of the earthly paradise,” Edward said. “What might not science achieve, in a world where a nation’s resources weren’t continually drained by strife?”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Times had changed. Sooner or later, they always did.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) first seen 1996 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Chapter 2, “Hollywood, 1996” (p. 10)
“Is God a cruel bastard or what, to make love so painful?”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Chapter 7, “London, 2026” (p. 65)
“You’ve no appreciation of high romance, that’s your trouble,” Lewis said, climbing in and starting the motor. Joseph nodded somberly. “Boy meets girl, girl loses boy, everybody dies. I just don’t get it.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Terrorism was too tame for the Scots: they used lawyers.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There,” Joseph said. “There’s your answer.” “It’s not an answer, little man. It’s many, many more questions.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Just when I thought things couldn’t get any stranger, I was proven wrong.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You have to be pretty damned hot and thirsty to enjoy a soy-milk smoothie, but they were, so it was okay.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was growing dusk, the blue hour when solid things take on a certain transparency and phantoms become palpable.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It didn’t matter that they were terrible at being parents; they were also very rich, which meant they could pay other people to love Alec.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Isn’t that a little hard on him? You’re not only making him feel bad about something he didn’t do, you’re making him feel bad about something that didn’t even shracking happen.” “I believe churches used to call it original sin,” Rutherford agreed, looking crafty. “But what does it matter, if it serves to make him a better man?”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How, in this day and age, can any one of you claim to be better than your fellow human beings?” “Because we are,” said Marilyn Deighton-True with a shrug. “Face reality, Giles, or it will face you. You can spout all the socialiste nouveau crap you like, but it simply doesn’t apply to a meritocracy.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Alec is beautiful,” said Jill, bending down to kiss him. “Like a mushroom cloud!” scoffed Balkister.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rutherford was a historian, after all, and secretly enjoyed it when the truth did injury to modern sensibilities.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Very shortly the temple was once again a wonder of the world, and the Ephesian Church settled down to a long reign marked only by the usual bitter quarrels, heresies, and internal dissent through which all major faiths struggle. Any religion begins in a moment of transforming truth. That moment quickly shatters into falsehood and shame and stagecraft, bitter comedy, sometimes murder. Thieves catch hold of any chance for power. The early years of a faith are best not too closely examined by its faithful.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He caught his breath, absorbing the impact of the scientific discoveries, the advances in scholarship, the inevitable dwindling into insignificance of issues that had mattered more than his life. He closed his eyes, turned his face away, but he couldn’t stop his understanding. “You see?” said Edward. “They’re all happy pagans nowadays. When they take the trouble to worship at all. Enlightenment swept most of that nonsense away, and good riddance!”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Consigned to everlasting fire,” said Nicholas in a faint voice. He had gone white as chalk. “No, you medieval imbecile!” Edward clenched his fists. “You still have no grasp of the truth, have you? Leave your angels and devils in the trash of history, where they belong.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When will you stop this metaphysical nonsense?” said Edward wearily. “But I suppose you’ve no other way to look at the matter, born as you were in an age of superstitious piety.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It takes thousands of them to create an archive of human wisdom; only one to set a torch to it. Wouldn’t you have to say, then, that the work of the librarians is more typical of mortal behavior than the work of the arsonist?”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Doubtless he was going to start bragging about being a god. It went with the profile of this sort of lunatic.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sex,” Kiu said thoughtfully. “And Fear. Get that big old devil behind them with a stick, and my radiant beauty in front of them, and they’ll run right off a cliff, if I ask.” “I’m a firm believer in Guilt, personally,” said Labienus. “Works well on individuals,” Kiu conceded. “Nothing like it for subtle motivation. Plant it deeply enough into a mortal’s psyche and it twists them endlessly.” Labienus sighed. “Get it in there young enough and it’ll do all your work for you. You’ll have only to prod the mortal along with a suggestion now and then.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It’s sad when people are stupid.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I will say this once.” Edward turned to the others. “I’m in command on this mission. Do not, at any time, attempt to wrest control from me. If what you see dismays you, avert your eyes.”
Kage Baker (1952–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source