Charles Sheffield

I worry when I hear talk of “this many millions” and “that many billions” from officials who I know have trouble calculating a restaurant tip.

Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.

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?

When you pay somebody off, it only increases their demands. I know, only too well. They are never satisfied with what they get.

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.

I think I'll have a sign made for that far wall," said Bey at last.
"Indeed?"
"Yes. It will say, 'If you have nothing to do, please don't do it here'.

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.

Other people’s jobs always seemed easier than yours until you actually had to do them.

Improbable as it seems, I think she admires you more than me.

My aunt doesn't even believe there is a Ship. She says we've been here on Pentecost forever."
"What did you tell her?"
"Nothing. For someone with that view, logic is irrelevant—she'll believe what she chooses, regardless of evidence. Her religion says God placed us here on Pentecost, and for her that's the end of the argument."
"And you?" Peron was aware that she had moved in very close to him. "What do you think?"
"You know what I think. I'm cursed with a logical mind, and a lot of curiosity.

Be an optimist! It’s the only way to live.

Didn’t anything scare the two aliens? Sometimes she wondered if humans were the only beings in the universe with a sense of cowardice (be charitable, and call it and instinct for self-preservation).

What does one do when a madman suggests an appealing course of action? One worries—but probably goes along with it.

You pursue progress, even if you suspect that it is an illusion.

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.