Top 15 Joe Haldeman Quotes

“Everybody rich and happy.” She smiled. “Also complacent and rather stupid, you may have noticed.”

If you asked him, he would say the only connection between free will and religion in his life was the fact that he hadn’t set foot in a synagogue since he turned eighteen.

Rationalism doesn’t require “belief,” only observation. The real, measurable world doesn’t care what you believe.

It was so much more complicated than it had to be, but the changeling had noted that this was true of every human biological function that wasn’t involuntary.

My own religion, if you can call it that, had changed in its fundamental premise, but not its basic assertion: I’d always told religious friends that there may or may not be a God, but if there is one, I wouldn’t want to have him over for dinner. I’ll stand by that last part.

“But all I have is hearsay, passed on by others of my kind.”
“Including this ‘nameless’ stuff,” I said.
“That’s true. And at various times in my life, I’ve wondered whether it might not be a delusion—some sort of fiction that we share. Like a religion: there’s no way you or I could prove that the nameless don’t exist.”

Most of human history had been industry versus nature, with industry winning.

I could have argued with his logic, but over the years have learned to find more pleasant ways to waste my time.

Fish and chickens were the only animals we’d had aboard in zerogee. Fish can’t tell the difference and chickens are too dumb to care.

Fathers and daughters don’t communicate that well even when alien languages and secret conspiracies aren’t involved.

The more leaves, the more Tree.

“We’re in jail, Charlie.” I made a gesture that didn’t knock anything over. “We can’t see the bars because they’re over the horizon.”

The generator was worth its weight in bureaucrats.

“Some are born crazy,” Amelia said. “Some achieve craziness. We had craziness thrust upon us.”

“You’re actually a soldier,” he said to me, “and you go along with this foolishness?”
“I didn’t ask to be a soldier. And I can’t imagine a peace as foolish as this war we’re in.”