George Alec Effinger Quotes

I do not attempt here to derogate my brother’s reading habits, but merely to indicate the disparity in our interests.

The party had demanded this; Weintraub was to be a scapegoat, the local conspirator in the Reichstag tragedy. “I suppose I can’t doubt them,” he thought, as his heart pounded, as his mouth grew dry, as he felt his head become airy and his thoughts giddy. “After all, the Party has the broadest perspective. I don’t have any real sense of this worldwide operation. It’s all for the greater good, I guess. They know what they’re doing.”

Perhaps he could organize everyone. He could stand up on something and shout slogans until he had attracted enough attention. Then he could begin some rambling speech, hoping that the people around him would be so desperate for leadership they wouldn’t notice the absurdity of what he said.

The longer I observe the way people really act, the happier I am that I never pay attention to them.

Turmoil and revolution in their best guises serve to tear down ancient and meaningless customs, in favor of practical social reform.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked awful, but I always look awful in the mirror. I keep myself going with the firm belief that my real face is much better looking.

How quickly I could clean this desk," she thought, "if only the wastebasket were larger.

Let me make it clear: You don’t want his disapproval. He never forgets these things. If he needs to, he hires other people to carry his grudges for him.

I told you it was dirty. When you wander into the highest level of international affairs, it’s almost always dirty.

People who live their lives by proverbs waste their time doing lots of stupid things. “Getting even is the best revenge” is my motto.

The male sexual drive is supposed to fall off during moments of stress," he thought. "It is comforting sometimes to know that I must be abnormal. Especially in a situation like this. Perpetual lust has got to be good for the human race.

“What do you know about the activities of the brain and the nervous system?”
I laughed. “About as much as any hustler from the Budayeen who can barely read and write his name. I know that the brain is in the head, I’ve heard that it’s a bad idea to let some thug spill it on the sidewalk. Beyond that, I don’t know much.” I did, truthfully, know some more, but I always hold something in reserve. It’s a good policy to be a little quicker, a little stronger, and a little smarter than everybody thinks you are.

Was that what he wanted, what the grand scheme of Utopia 3 was designed for? It was a lot like death, only more tedious.

Any thought which is printed, either here or in the paper, without subsequent attack is generally believed to be true. This is not so much a logical condition as it is a fault of human nature. A longstanding or constant idea is often equated with a true one.

I wonder," he thought, "is it worth getting myself crushed in that crowd just to save my life? Is it worth getting all frustrated and angry, lowering myself to their level, pushing and shoving with all the rest, fighting like a common animal, just to stay alive?" He smiled ruefully. "It always comes to the simple question: what is more important, life or self-respect?