Charles Sheffield Quotes

TIG. Trust In Government. An old political principle, to give your organization a name that’s the opposite of what you mean.

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.

When you have died once, you become most reluctant to do so again.

If you win too easy, better ask what’s going on that you don’t know about.

Everyone was somebody’s cousin, or uncle, or bedmate, or best college friend. Sometimes he felt that the whole of Washington was glued together into one vast, incestuous, and inefficient snotball.

Forrest Singer, it always seemed to Saul, spoke as though the two of them were equals. Saul possibly held the slightly inferior position in the doctor’s eyes. Saul was the President of the United States, true; but Forrest Singer was an M.D.

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.

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.

But humans had to learn to ignore appearance. No two beings who shared common thinking processes and common goals should be truly alien to each other.

Theories were a dime a dozen. The partition that separated science and wishful thinking was evidence: observations and firm facts.

That's a whole lot of ifs you got there."
"True. But which would you prefer, Louis Nenda?" Atvar H'sial rose from her crouched position. "A substantial set of contingent possibilities, or a single unpleasant certainty?

Don’t confuse caution with cowardice.

War was senseless. And yet war came creeping steadily closer.

That’s why we want it. Impossible gadgets are always the most valuable.

As usual he looked tired, but that was normal. Geniuses worked harder than anyone else, not less hard.