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Vernor Vinge
72 quotes
“The essence of real creativity is a certain playfulness, a flitting from idea to idea without getting bogged down by fixated demands. Of course, you don’t always get what you thought you were asking for. From this era on, I think invention will be the parent of necessity—and not the other way around.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Didn’t Underhill understand? All decent societies agreed on basic issues, things that meant the healthy survival of their people. Things might be changing, but it was self-serving nonsense to throw the rules overboard.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Funny how the least attempt at deception always seems to make life more complicated.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yet, even with the greatest care, a technological civilization carried the seeds of its own destruction. Sooner or later, it ossified and politics carried it into a fall.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Civilizations rise and fall, but all technical civilizations know the greatest secrets now. They know which social mechanisms normally work, and which ones quickly fail. They know the means to postpone disaster and evade the most foolish catastrophes. They know that even so, each civilization must inevitably fall.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pham was overwhelmed by the other things that Gunnar Larson had to say, the advice that might be worthless but that had the stench of wisdom.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There had been an era of ubiquitous law enforcement, and some kind of distributed terror.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There was an old Qeng Ho saying, “You know you’ve stayed too long when you start using the locals’ calendar.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Do you think she really believes what she’s saying?” “Sure she believes it. That’s what makes her so funny.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is a deepness in the sky, and it extends forever.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This was the sort of desperate hallucination he must guard against. If you raise your desires high enough, certainty can grow out of the background noise.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Viki was awed by all the incredible quackery. Daddy thought such things were amusing—“like religion but not so deadly.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We think the governance has opted for ubiquitous law enforcement.” Pham whistled softly. Now every embedded computing system, down to a child’s rattle, was a governance utility. It was the most extreme form of social control ever invented. “So now they have to run everything.” The notion was terribly seductive to the authoritarian mind.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What do you do when your dream dies?”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What do you do when your dream dies? Dreams die in every life. Everyone gets old. There is promise in the beginning when life seems so bright. The promise fades when the years get short.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So what do you do when your dream dies? When your dream dies, you give it up.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The hard facts are extraordinary, without adding superstitious mumbo-jumbo.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes, we did quite well. But then, telling people what they want to believe is an easy job.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The more you realized what the stars really were, the more you realized what the universe must really be.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But see, your theory ‘explains’ all sorts of things without helping to do anything, much less providing tests for itself.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So much technology, so little talent.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We've watched the Homo Sapiens interest group since the first appearance of the Blight. Where is this "Earth" the humans claim to be from? "Half way around the galaxy," they say, and deep in the Slow Zone. Even their proximate origin, Nyjora, is conveniently in the Slowness. We see an alternative theory: Sometime, maybe further back than the last consistent archives, there was a battle between Powers. The blueprint for this "human race" was written, complete with communication interfaces. Long after the original contestants and their stories had vanished, this race happened to get in position where it could Transcend. And that Transcending was tailor-made, too, re-establishing the Power that had set the trap to begin with.We're not sure of the details, but a scenario such as this is inevitable. What we must do is also clear. Straumli Realm is at the heart of the Blight, obviously beyond all attack. But there are other human colonies. We ask the Net to help in identifying all of them. We ourselves are not a large civilization, but we would be happy to coordinate the information gathering, and the military action that is required to prevent the Blight's spread in the Middle Beyond. For nearly seventeen weeks, we've been calling for action. Had you listened in the beginning, a concerted strike might have been sufficient to destroy the Straumli Realm. Isn't the Fall of Relay enough to wake you up? Friends, if we act together we still have a chance.Death to vermin.”
Vernor Vinge (1944–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source