“You show me someone who can't understand people and I'll show you someone who has built up a false image of himself.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“It seems to me, Golan, that the advance of civilization is nothing but an exercise in the limiting of privacy.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“The advance of civilization is nothing but an exercise in the limiting of privacy.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“The Library was outmoded and archaic—it had been so even in Ebling Mis's time—but that was all to the good. Pelorat always rubbed his hands with excitement when he thought of an old and outmoded Library. The older and the more outmoded, the more likely it was to have what he needed. In his dreams, he would enter the Library and ask in breathless alarm, 'Has the Library been modernized? Have you thrown out the old tapes and computerizations?' And always he imagined the answer from dusty and ancient librarians, 'As it has been, Professor, so it is still.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“He didn’t believe that, surely.” “Of course not! But he had to pretend he did, as otherwise he would have had no choice but to be insulted. And since there would be nothing he could do about that, being insulted would only lead to humiliation. And since he didn’t want that, the simplest path to follow was to believe what I said.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“humanity could share a common insanity and be immersed in a common illusion while living in a common chaos.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“We abandoned the appearance of power to preserve the essence of it.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“A wall is happy when it is well designed, when it rests firmly on its foundation, when its symmetry balances its part and produces no unpleasant stresses. Good design can be worked out on the mathematical principles of mechanics.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“A happy wall is a long-lived wall, a practical wall, a useful wall.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“You show me someone who can’t understand people and I’ll show you someone who has built up a false image of himself—no offense intended.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“Never let your sense of morals keep you from doing what is right.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“...the advance of civilisation is nothing but an exercise in the limiting of privacy.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“the eye were no more than sense organs. The brain was no more than a central switchboard, encased in bone and removed from the working surface of the body. It was the hands that were the working surface, the hands that felt and manipulated the universe. Human beings thought with their hands. It was their hands that were the answer of curiosity, that felt and pinched and turned and lifted and hefted. There were animals that had brains of respectable size, but they had no hands and that made all the difference.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“When one’s home has a really excellent computer capable of reaching other computers anywhere in the Galaxy, one scarcely needs to budge, you know.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“There’s no record in the history of the Galaxy of any society being so foolish as to use nuclear explosions as a weapon of war.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“Anyone who displays a capacity for double-dealing must forever be suspected of being capable of displaying it again.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“Well, besides, I’ve arranged with the computer that anyone who doesn’t look and sound like one of us will be killed if he—or she—tries to board the ship. I’ve taken the liberty of explaining that to the Port Commander. I told him very politely that I would love to turn off that particular facility out of deference to the reputation that the Sayshell City Spaceport holds for absolute integrity and security—throughout the Galaxy, I said—but the ship is a new model and I didn’t know how to turn it off.”
“He didn’t believe that, surely.”
“Of course not! But he had to pretend he did, as otherwise he would have had no choice but to be insulted. And since there would be nothing he could do about that, being insulted would only lead to humiliation. And since he didn’t want that, the simplest path to follow was to believe what I said.”
“And that’s another example of how people are?”
“Yes. You’ll get used to this.”
― Isaac Asimov, quote from Foundation's Edge
“I'm not like him, Kara. Whoever he is, I'm not like him."
She ran a hand over his chest, with its mat of golden curls and teased one flat brown nipple, desire already running hot in her veins. "No. No you're not.”
― Pamela Clare, quote from Extreme Exposure
“Todas las mercancías tienen un origen oscuro. Es la ley del capitalismo.”
― Roberto Saviano, quote from Gomorrah
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you’re perfect for each other! You irritate people, and he smooths things out. You have good mojo, and he only thinks he does. You’re broke, and he’s rich. You’ve got those weird feet of yours, and he’s got them cute ears.”
― Kim Harrison, quote from The Undead Pool
“Calm?” I screeched. “Calm? Ryan, I nearly killed you! How could I possibly be calm?” Ryan studied my face for a minute and then rolled his eyes.
His smile turned to a frown. “You’re not going to let me kiss you ever again, are you?” It wasn’t really a question.
“And you say you’re not that smart.”
― Kelly Oram, quote from Being Jamie Baker
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. ‘I have a dream that one day, on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down to gether at the table of brotherhood – I have a dream. ‘That one day even the state of Mississippi – a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of op pression – will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream.’ He had hit a rhythm, and two hundred thousand people felt it sway their souls. It was more than a speech: it was a poem and a canticle and a prayer as deep as the grave. The heartbreaking phrase ‘I have a dream’ came like an amen at the end of each ringing sentence. ‘. . . That my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character – I have a dream today. ‘I have a dream that one day down in Alabama – with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification – one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers – I have a dream today. ‘With this faith we will be able to hew, out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope. ‘With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. ‘With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.’ Looking around, Jasper saw that black and white faces alike were running with tears. Even he felt moved, and he had thought himself immune to this kind of thing. ‘And when this happens; when we allow freedom to ring; when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city; we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands . . .’ Here he slowed down, and the crowd was almost silent. King’s voice trembled with the earthquake force of his passion. ‘. . . and sing, in the words of the old Negro spiritual: ‘Free at last! ‘Free at last! ‘Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
― Ken Follett, quote from Edge of Eternity
BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
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