John Scalzi Quotes

Those people you saw—the realborn—are born without a plan. They’re born because biology tells humans to make more humans; but it doesn’t consider what to do with them after that. Realborn go for years without the slightest clue what they’re going to do with themselves. From what I understand, some of them never actually figure it out. They just walk through life in a daze and then fall into their graves at the end of it. Sad. And inefficient.

When you control communication, you can hide anything you want.

Imagine if every species named itself after its greatest flaw. We could name our species arrogance.

“Every creature has fear,” Jared said. “Even the non-conscious ones.”
“No,” Boutin said. “Every creature has a survival instinct. It looks like fear but it’s not the same thing. Fear isn’t the desire to avoid death or pain. Fear is rooted in the knowledge that what you recognize as yourself can cease to exist. Fear is existential.

He’s almost certainly planned for the contingency of being caught. He’s rich and he’s got more lawyers than some countries have people.

Human technology was good, and weapon to weapon humans were as well-equipped as the vast majority of their adversaries. But the weapon that ultimately matters is the one behind the trigger.

I’m not sure I like their plan for converting us to their religion, seeing as it involves dying and all.

Harry!" Boutin said. "Nice guy. Didn't know he was that smart. He hid it well.

This is Major Perry's house?"
"I hope so," I said. "All his stuff is here.

What’s the point of being in charge if you can’t indulge in pointless favoritism.

Unlike Agents Vann and Shane here, who are being wholly disingenuous, you might be speaking out of genuine ignorance and not just your usual levels of casual obstructionism.

That's a nice speech, Trujillo," Rybicki said. "It doesn't make it true."
"General, at the moment, I wouldn't place you as an authority on truth.

Teenagers can be idiotic and stupid, but teenagers also model their behavior from the signals they get from adults.

It's Charlie's soul," he repeated. "Or more accurately, it's a holographic representation of the dynamic electrical system that embodies the consciousness of Charles Boutin.

The problem with aging is not that it’s one damn thing after another—it’s every damn thing, all at once, all the time.
You can’t stop aging. Gene therapies and replacement organs and plastic surgery give it a good fight. But it catches up with you anyway. Get a new lung, and your heart blows a valve. Get a new heart, and your liver swells up to the size of an inflatable kiddie pool. Change out your liver, a stroke gives you a whack. That’s aging’s trump card; they still can’t replace brains.