Robert Sheckley Quotes

Hope could be dangerous, desire could be catastrophic.

A tremor ran through him. He had chosen, he reminded himself. He alone was responsible. The psychological test had proved that.
And yet, how responsible were the psychologists who had given him the test? How responsible was Mike Terry for offering a poor man so much money? Society had woven the noose and put it around his neck, and he was hanging himself with it, and calling it free will.

Sven had the sensation of discovering a new world, a world no civilized man had ever encountered. He was amazed to discover that weirder customs could be found on Earth than anywhere else in the galaxy.

Had he been right or was he just another visionary?

You simply can’t throw strangers together at random and expect the fiery, quick romance to turn into love. Love has its own rules and enforces them rigidly.

You must remember," the doctor said, "Society must be protected against the individual."
"Yes," Feerman said drowsily, "but who is to protect the individual against society?

Society as a whole, he reminded himself, must be protected against the individual, just as a human body must be protected against malfunction of any of its parts. As fond as you might be of your gall bladder, you would sacrifice it mercilessly if it were going to impair the rest of you.

I poured Franklin another cup of coffee and he looked at me, his big eyes pleading. The deadheads always look like that when we reach this point. They think that Mars is like Alaska in the ’70s, or Antarctica in 2000; a frontier for brave, determined men. But Mars isn’t a frontier. It’s a dead end.

We denizens of Earth have a common vice: We take what we’re offered, whether we need it or not.
You can get into a lot of trouble that way.

Mr. Rath’s iron face registered a rather corrugated disgust. People were useless as witnesses. Worse than useless, since they were frequently misleading. For reliability, give him a robot every time.

The mind of Human Man is murky and dark," said Gunga-Sam, "but it is as crystal compared to the mind of Human Woman.

That’s the whole point! Anyone can buy sex. Good Lord, it’s the cheapest thing in the universe, next to human life.

Love and war," he said, "are Earth's two staple commodities. We've been turning them both out in bumper crops since the beginning of time.

That's so like you Terrans," Melith remarked sadly. "You want responsibility only if it doesn't incur risk. That's a wrong attitude for running a government.

Credit is, of course, an automatic privilege. But, eventually, everything must be paid for."