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Robert J. Sawyer
54 quotes
“It embodies, perhaps more clearly than anything else I've written, the central theme of all my work: namely, that clearheaded, unflinching, rational thinking is the only effective way to deal with reality.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Afsan stood tall. “I am not afraid.” “Fear is important, young one. Fear is the counselor. Those who don’t know when to fear wind up dead.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’ve never heard you talk like this before.” “We all change with the passing of the days.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That’s not an appealing thought.” Afsan had never worried about how appealing any given idea was, only about how accurate it might be.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You know his dictum: nothing is anything unless it is something. That is, a concept without material reality is meaningless.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am a priest. It’s my job to whip individuals or groups into a frenzy.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science holds our answer; knowledge—real knowledge, verifiable knowledge, not superstition, not religious nonsense—will be our salvation.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have no choice, do I?” Afsan turned his blind eyes on his friend. “That’s the funny thing about being a leader, Dybo: you rarely do.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We cannot be afraid to look.” “But some things are best left unknown,” she said. “Nothing is best left unknown,” said Toroca. “Nothing.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’m old, and if that has one advantage, it’s perspective: I’ve seen so much change during my lifetime.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nothing is anything unless it is something. In other words, a concept without material reality is meaningless.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The sad truth, Afsan, is that often what we intend has little to do with what we achieve.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Only a fool fights in a building that’s on fire.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The intelligent person must abhor violence.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But here’s the rub: equality doesn’t necessarily mean being the same. It’s possible to be different but equal. Yes, the male may be more ornate or more powerful in many cases, but the female controls mating, choosing the male, and also, of course, it is the female who brings new life into the world. Which is better? No one can say. Equal, but different.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Good luck—and God protect.” I was sure that little reference to God was for the sake of the network cameras. Ching-Mei was an atheist. She only had faith in empirical data, in experimental results.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Adjectives modify nouns, adverbs modify verbs, advertisers modify the truth.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It turned out that big-bucks science had been a purely mid-twentieth-century phenomenon, starting with the Manhattan Project and ending with the fall of the Soviet Union.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” I shook my head. “Have you ever noticed how many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities come at the end of a person’s life? Count me out.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Failing to act is a decision in and of itself.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Throwing some light on the subject had only made the mystery deeper.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Jag barked dismissively. “Philosophy,” he said. “Not science. They just want to believe that.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God,” he said under his breath. “All the gods,” replied Jag, softly, “are a very, very long way from here.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You are spoiled by being a sociologist, Lansing. In the hard sciences, we occasionally have to face the reality that some of our theories will actually be disproven.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But you get along with humans now, which is something my people are having trouble managing. How do you do it?” Longbottle barked, “Accept their weaknesses, welcome their strengths.” Jag was silent.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What arrogant fools we are!” said Jag. “Don’t you see?” To this day, despite all the humbling lessons the universe has already taught us, we still try to retain a central role in creation. We devise theories of cosmology that say the universe was destined to give rise to us, that it had to evolve life like us. Humans call it the anthropic principle, my people called it the aj-Waldahudigralt principle, but it’s all the same thing: the desperate, deep-rooted need to believe that we are significant, that we’re important.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It had to begin somewhere—maturity, the stage after the midlife crisis, peace. It had to begin somewhere.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Children play with toy soldiers,” said Keith, looking now at Jag. “Child races play with real ones. Maybe it’s time all of us grew up a bit.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There was a small crucifix above the door to his room; it had been there since he’d been a little boy. He stared up at the tiny Jesus—but there was no point in praying. The die was cast; what was done was done.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...but there, because there is no grace of God, go I.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He cursed himself for thinking anything this complex would end up not being a source of problems.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“‘Justice,’” he said, his breath coming out raggedly as he quoted another Nobel laureate—at that precise moment, he couldn’t remember which one—“‘is always delayed and finally done only by mistake.’”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, that can happen. Memories can be implanted, even just through suggestion and constant repetition. And if a therapist augments that with hypnosis, really unshakable false memories can be created.” “But why on earth would a therapist do that?” Heather looked grim. “To quote an old Psych Department joke, there are many routes to mental health, but none so lucrative as Freudian analysis.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Cheetah is an APE,” said Kyle. “You know, a computer simulation the apes humanity.” “I really do find the use of the term ‘ape’ offensive,” said Cheetah. Kyle smiled. “See? Genuine-sounding indignation. I programmed that myself. It’s the first thing you need in a university environment: the ability to take offense at any slight, real or imagined.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Kyle was both deeply great and deeply flawed—peaks and valleys, more and less than she’d ever thought he was. But, she realized, whatever he was now, she could accept it; the fit between them wasn’t ideal, and probably never would be. But she knew in her heart that it was better than it could be with anyone else. And perhaps acknowledging that was as good a definition of love as any.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fundamental of war has always been dehumanizing the enemy, seeing him as a soulless animal.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And Canadians didn’t like guns, either—they had no Second Amendment, or whatever damned thing it was that made Americans think they could go around armed.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Free will is an illusion. It is synonymous with incomplete perception.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You’re right to be skeptical—the world would be a better place if we were all a little less credulous.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There may be oodles of possible humans, but it is a finite number.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You humans seem to have a profound capacity for ignoring obvious evidence.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Not wanting to die was another universal constant, it seemed.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I did learn one valuable lesson, though. I learned that you can’t choose the ways in which you’ll be tested.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As one of my Jewish friends has been known to observe, the Jews who survived World War II were either now atheists or hadn’t been paying attention.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I do remember her favorite expression: the Lord works in mysterious ways. Perhaps so. But I found it hard to believe he would work in shoddy, haphazard ones.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe the creator may have a specific reason for wanting a universe that has life in it, and, indeed, as you say, for wanting multiple sentiences to emerge simultaneously. But it seems clear beyond dispute that the creator takes no interest in specific individuals.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I guess what it means is this: to be human is to be fragile. We are easily hurt, and not just physically. We are easily hurt emotionally, too. So, as you move through life, my son, try not to hurt others.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sagan may not have believed in the God of the Bible, but he at least allowed the possibility of a creator. Or did he? Carl was no more obliged to believe what he wrote in his sole work of fiction than George Lucas was required to believe in the Force.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Lord works in mysterious ways. Mrs. Lansbury had always said that. Everything happens for a purpose. Such bull. Such unmitigated crap. I felt my stomach knotting. Cancer didn’t happen for any purpose. It tore people apart; if a god did create life, then he’s a shoddy workman, churning out flawed, self-destructing products.”
Robert J. Sawyer (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source