All quotes

The world’s stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get. They’re well off; they’re safe; they’re never ill; they’re not afraid of death; they’re blissfully ignorant of passion and old age…

A man can smile and smile and be a villain.

Words can be like X-rays, if you use them properly—they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.

We should grant power over affairs only to those who are reluctant to hold it and then only under conditions that increase the reluctance.

Power attracts the corruptible. Suspect all who seek it.

All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on violence, a condition to which…

All governments needed to remain under suspicion during their time of power. Trust no government! Not even mine!

We tend to become like the worst in those we oppose.

The writing of history is largely a process of diversion. Most historical accounts distract attention from the secret influences behind every great event.

"I can't go back," said Towser. "Nor I," said Fowler. "They would turn me back into a dog," said Towser. "And me," said Fowler, "back into a man."

The Juwain philosophy provides an ability to sense the viewpoint of another. It won't necessarily make you agree with that viewpoint, but it does make you recognize it. You not only know what the other fellow is talking about, but how he…

No one would know exactly what had happened. And even if one guessed, there'd be no way to make sure. And even if one were sure, there'd be nothing that could be done about it. A thousand years before it would not have been that way. For…

It ain't no use. They won't buy farm-raised stuff. Just laughed at me. Showed me ears of corn twice as big as the ones I had, just as sweet and with more even rows. Showed me melons that had almost no rind at all. Better tasting, too, they…

The city is an anachronism. It has outlived its usefulness. Hydroponics and the helicopter spelled its downfall. In the first instance the city was a tribal place, an area where the tribe banded together for mutual protection. Then the…

There had always been mutants, else the race would not have advanced. But until the last hundred years or so they had not been recognized as such. Before that they had merely been great businessmen or great scientists or great crooks. Or…

As a man of faith, I am bound by a different covenant than Dr. Arroway. But our goal is one and the same: the pursuit of truth. I for one believe her.

What I'm asking is... are we happier? Is the world fundamentally a better place because of science and technology? We shop at home, we surf the Web, and at the same time we feel emptier, lonelier, and more cut off from each other than at…

Michael Kitz: Your having sent this announcement all over the world may well constitute a breach of national security. Ellie Arroway: This isn't a person-to-person call. You can't possibly think that a civilization sending this kind of…

First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?

Senator: You come to us with no evidence, no record, no artifacts. Only a story that, to put it mildly, strains credibility... Are you really going to sit there and tell us that we should just take this all on faith? Ellie Arroway: Is it…

I'm not against technology, doctor. I'm against the men who deify it at the expense of human truth.

Committee member: If you should meet these Vegans and were permitted only one question to ask of them what would it be? Ellie Arroway: I suppose it would be: How did you do it? How did you evolve, how did you survive this technological…

Executive: We must confess that your proposal seems less like science and more like science fiction. Ellie Arroway: Science fiction. You're right, it's crazy. In fact, it's even worse than that, it's nuts. You wanna hear something really…

Some celestial event. No - no words. No words to describe it. Poetry! They should have sent a poet. So beautiful. So beautiful... I had no idea.

Mathematics is the only true universal language.

Ellie Arroway: Dad, do you think there's people on other planets? Ted Arroway: I don't know, Sparks. But I guess I'd say if it is just us... seems like an awful waste of space.

We pose no threat to them. It would be like us going out of our way to destroy a few microbes on an ant hill in Africa.

You're an interesting species, an interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you're not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we've found that…

Palmer Joss: By doing this, you're willing to give your life, you're willing to die for it. Why? Ellie Arroway: For as long as I can remember, I've been searching for something, some reason why we're here. What are we doing here? Who are…

The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is a duty of the living to do so for them.