George Alec Effinger: Trending quotes (page 3)

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“It didn’t feel, at that moment, like I was getting into something over my head. It never does, before you take the leap.”

George Alec Effinger book When Gravity Fails

Source: When Gravity Fails (1986), Chapter 2 (p. 20).

Feeling

“I shook my head ruefully. Police departments all over the world were identical in two respects: they all have a fondness for breaking your head open for little or no provocation, and they can’t see the simple truth if it’s lying in front of them naked with its legs spread. The police don’t enforce laws; they don’t even get busy until after the laws are broken. They solve crimes at a pitifully low rate of success. What the police are, to be honest, is a kind of secretarial pool that records the names of the victims and the statements of the witnesses. After enough time passes, they can safely shove this information to the back of the filing system to make room for more.”

George Alec Effinger book When Gravity Fails

Source: When Gravity Fails (1986), Chapter 17 (pp. 235-236).

Truth , World , Law , Lying

“The only negative thing she had to say was that I displayed a tendency to exaggerate the facts for the sake of interesting reading.”

George Alec Effinger

Source: What Entropy Means to Me (1972), Chapter 2 “Next: The Radishes of Doom” (p. 25).

Reading

“I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked awful, but I always look awful in the mirror. I keep myself going with the firm belief that my real face is much better looking.”

George Alec Effinger book When Gravity Fails

Source: When Gravity Fails (1986), Chapter 2 (p. 13).

“She gave me a wide-eyed, innocent smile that looked as out of place on her as it would have on a desert scorpion.”

George Alec Effinger book A Fire in the Sun

Source: A Fire in the Sun (1989), Chapter 7 (p. 95).

Smile

“With people, Moore suspected, no matter how noble the intent, a defect was unavoidable, a taint of politics.”

George Alec Effinger

Source: Death in Florence (1978), Chapter 3 “Moore and More” (p. 123).

People

““I think you should know that I’m a devout Christian.” I took that to mean that my new servant wholeheartedly disapproved of almost everything I might say or do.”

George Alec Effinger book A Fire in the Sun

Source: A Fire in the Sun (1989), Chapter 3 (p. 30).

Thinking

“I do not attempt here to derogate my brother’s reading habits, but merely to indicate the disparity in our interests.”

George Alec Effinger

Source: What Entropy Means to Me (1972), Chapter 4 “The Song of the Sword” (p. 56).

Reading

“The idea of sin and retribution is just an attempt to hide behind the shield of superstition. You are trying to find rational causes where there aren’t any.”

George Alec Effinger

Source: Relatives (1973)., Chapter 11 (p. 166).

Idea

“I see unhealthy signs of a new regime of religiosity and conservatism.”

George Alec Effinger

Source: What Entropy Means to Me (1972), Chapter 3 “A Woman’s Treachery” (p. 48).

“The butler recognized me, even favoring me with a minute change in his expression. Evidently I had become a celebrity. Politicians and sex stars may cuddle up to you and it doesn’t prove a thing, but when the butlers of the world notice you, you realize that some of what you believe about yourself is true.”

George Alec Effinger book When Gravity Fails

Source: When Gravity Fails (1986), Chapter 20 (p. 270).

World , Sex , Star , Change

“Isolation is nice,” thought Brant as she drifted closer to sleep. “It’s a shame you can’t share it with anybody.”

George Alec Effinger

Source: Death in Florence (1978), Chapter 1 “New Streets and Roads” (p. 51).

Sleep

“There are more strains of courage than merely facing a sword.”

George Alec Effinger

Source: What Entropy Means to Me (1972), Chapter 9 “A Moral Dilemma” (p. 146).

Courage

““I have been waiting for a sign. I knew that if I waited here long enough my bird, that tarishawk that rests here each day, I knew that he would come. Our Mother said that if he flew from the right, then I would have good fortune. If he came from the left, my journey would be disastrous for me, and it would bear no positive fruits for you.”
“And the hawk? Which way did it come? Did it come from the left?”
Dore smiled once more; his smile was always the most cheerless aspect of him. “The hawk has not come at all,” he said.”

George Alec Effinger

Source: What Entropy Means to Me (1972), Chapter 1 “Prelude to...Danger!” (p. 19).

Smile , Way , Bird , Waiting

““I wonder,” he thought, “is it worth getting myself crushed in that crowd just to save my life? Is it worth getting all frustrated and angry, lowering myself to their level, pushing and shoving with all the rest, fighting like a common animal, just to stay alive?” He smiled ruefully. “It always comes to the simple question: what is more important, life or self-respect?””

George Alec Effinger

Source: Relatives (1973)., Chapter 8 (p. 123).

Life , Smile , Question , Animals

“What do you know about the activities of the brain and the nervous system?”

George Alec Effinger book When Gravity Fails

I laughed. “About as much as any hustler from the Budayeen who can barely read and write his name. I know that the brain is in the head, I’ve heard that it’s a bad idea to let some thug spill it on the sidewalk. Beyond that, I don’t know much.” I did, truthfully, know some more, but I always hold something in reserve. It’s a good policy to be a little quicker, a little stronger, and a little smarter than everybody thinks you are.
Source: When Gravity Fails (1986), Chapter 12 (p. 160).

“The most frequent expression in the Muslim world is inshallah, if God wills. It removes all guilt: blame it on Allah. If the oasis dries up and blows away, it was Allah’s will. If you get caught sleeping with your brother’s wife, it was Allah’s will. Getting your hand or your cock or your head chopped off in reprisal is Allah’s will, too. Nothing much gets done in the Budayeen without discussing how Allah is going to feel about it.”

George Alec Effinger book When Gravity Fails

Source: When Gravity Fails (1986), Chapter 3 (p. 31).

World , Sleep , God , Feeling

“We have now successfully enlisted the aid of many groups of theoretically anti-communist people, all supporting those very causes which lead directly to victory for the Party. These students will be of great value in creating political upheaval here in the next few years. Though they may not vote themselves, they will do a great part of the work for the candidates we shall endorse.”

George Alec Effinger

“I think it was the vague promise of sexual freedom that did it,” said Weintraub wryly. “That seems to work on everybody. Even the clergy.”
Source: Relatives (1973)., Chapter 11 (p. 177).

Support , Victory , People , Parting

“You shouldn’t be so critical. Some people like this kind of thing, you know.”

George Alec Effinger

Source: Relatives (1973)., Chapter 13 (p. 199).

People