Isaac Asimov: Trending quotes (page 11)

“He is energetic only in evading responsibility.”

Isaac Asimov

Part V, The Merchant Princes, section 2
The Foundation series (1951–1993), Foundation (1951)

“The unwritten motto of United States Robot and Mechanical Men Corp. was well-known: “No employee makes the same mistake twice. He is fired the first time.””

Isaac Asimov book I, Robot

“Catch That Rabbit”, p. 65
I, Robot (1950)

Men , Time

“Just you think first, and don’t bother to speak afterward, either.”

Isaac Asimov book I, Robot

“Catch That Rabbit”, p. 71
I, Robot (1950)

Thinking

“All mankind, right down to those you most despise, are your neighbors.”

Isaac Asimov

"Lost in Non-Translation" (1989), in Magic (Voyager, 1997) p. 270
General sources

““You’re the U. S. Robot’s psychologist, aren’t you?”
“Robopsychologist, please.”
“Oh, are robots so different from men, mentally?”
“Worlds different.” She allowed herself a frosty smile, “Robots are essentially decent.””

Isaac Asimov book I, Robot

“Evidence”, p. 151
I, Robot (1950)

Men , World , Smile

““That was the time to begin all-out preparations for war.”
“On the contrary. That was the time to begin all-out prevention of war.””

Isaac Asimov

Part III, The Mayors, section 1
The Foundation series (1951–1993), Foundation (1951)

War , Time

“Science is a systematic method for studying and working out those generalizations that seem to describe the behavior of the universe. It could exist as a purely intellectual game that would never affect the practical life of human beings either for good or evil, and that was very nearly the case in ancient Greece, for instance. Technology is the application of scientific findings to the tools of everyday life, and that application can be wise or unwise, useful or harmful. Very often, those who govern technological decisions are not scientists and know little about science.”

Isaac Asimov

"By the Numbers" (May 1973), in The Tragedy of the Moon (1973), p. 190
General sources

Life , Behavior , Game , Decision

“Plowboy: In your opinion, what are mankind's prospects for the near future?
Asimov: To tell the truth, I don't think the odds are very good that we can solve our immediate problems. I think the chances that civilization will survive more than another 30 years—that it will still be flourishing in 2010—are less than 50 percent.
Plowboy: What sort of disaster do you foresee?
Asimov: I imagine that as population continues to increase—and as the available resources decrease—there will be less energy and food, so we'll all enter a stage of scrounging. The average person's only concerns will be where he or she can get the next meal, the next cigarette, the next means of transportation. In such a universal scramble, the Earth will be just plain desolated, because everyone will be striving merely to survive regardless of the cost to the environment. Put it this way: If I have to choose between saving myself and saving a tree, I'm going to choose me.
Terrorism will also become a way of life in a world marked by severe shortages. Finally, some government will be bound to decide that the only way to get what its people need is to destroy another nation and take its goods … by pushing the nuclear button.
And this absolute chaos is going to develop—even if nobody wants nuclear war and even if everybody sincerely wants peace and social justice—if the number of mouths to feed continues to grow. Nothing will be able to stand up against the pressure of the whole of humankind simply trying to stay alive!”

Isaac Asimov

Mother Earth News interview (1980)

Life , War , People , Truth

“Knowledge is indivisible. When people grow wise in one direction, they are sure to make it easier for themselves to grow wise in other directions as well. On the other hand, when they split up knowledge, concentrate on their own field, and scorn and ignore other fields, they grow less wise — even in their own field.”

Isaac Asimov

Source: The Roving Mind (1983), Ch. 25

People , Knowledge

“The facts, gentlemen, and nothing but the facts, for careful eyes are narrowly watching.”

Isaac Asimov book Fact and Fancy

Fact and Fancy (1962), p. 11
General sources

“An atom blaster is a good weapon, but it can point both ways.”

Isaac Asimov

Part V, The Merchant Princes, section 13
The Foundation series (1951–1993), Foundation (1951)

Way

“SWA Magazine: Talking about spacecraft, what do you think about the shuttle program?
Asimov: Well, I hope it does get off the ground. And I hope they expand it, because the shuttle program is the gateway to everything else. By means of the shuttle, we will be able to build space stations and power stations, laboratory facilities and habitations, and everything else in space.
SWA Magazine: How about orbital space colonies? Do you see these facilities being built or is the government going to cut back on projects like this?
Asimov: Well, now you've put your finger right on it. In order to have all of these wonderful things in space, we don't have to wait for technology - we've got the technology, and we don't have to wait for the know-how - we've got that too. All we need is the political go-ahead and the economic willingness to spend the money that is necessary. It is a little frustrating to think that if people concentrate on how much it is going to cost they will realize the great amount of profit they will get for their investment. Although they are reluctant to spend a few billions of dollars to get back an infinite quantity of money, the world doesn't mind spending $400 billion every years on arms and armaments, never getting anything back from it except a chance to commit suicide.”

Isaac Asimov

An Interview with Isaac Asimov (1979)

Money , People , World , Hope

“It’s one thing to have guts; it’s another to be crazy.”

Isaac Asimov

Source: The Foundation series (1951–1993), Foundation’s Edge (1982), Chapter 15 “Gaia-S” section 2, p. 302

“You are a valuable subject, Brodrig. You always suspect far more than is necessary, and I have but to take half your suggested precautions to be utterly safe.”

Isaac Asimov

Source: The Foundation series (1951–1993), Foundation and Empire (1952), Chapter 4 “The Emperor”

“He believes in that mummery a good deal less than I do, and I don’t believe in it at all.”

Isaac Asimov

Part III, The Mayors, section 3
The Foundation series (1951–1993), Foundation (1951)

“I was once being interviewed by Barbara Walters… In between two of the segments she asked me…"But what would you do if the doctor gave you only six months to live?" I said, "Type faster." This was widely quoted, but the "six months" was changed to "six minutes," which bothered me. It's "six months."”

Isaac Asimov

Asimov Laughs Again (1992)
General sources

Quotes , Change

“Societies create their own history and tend to wipe out lowly beginnings, either by forgetting them or inventing totally fictitious heroic rescues.”

Isaac Asimov

Source: The Foundation series (1951–1993), Foundation’s Edge (1982), Chapter 17 “Gaia” section 5, p. 363

History , Forgetting

“Miniaturization doesn't actually make sense unless you miniaturize the very atoms of which matter is composed. Otherwise a tiny brain in a man the size of an insect, composed of normal atoms, is composed of too few atoms for the miniaturized man to be any more intelligent than the ant. Also, miniaturizing atoms is impossible according to the rules of quantum mechanics.”

Isaac Asimov

As quoted in Omni's Screen Flights/Screen Fantasies (1984) edited by Danny Peary, p. 5
General sources

Intelligence , Sense

“Were I to use the wits the good Spirits gave me,” he said, “then I would say this lady can not exist — for what sane man would hold a dream to be reality. Yet rather would I not be sane and lend belief to charmed, enchanted eyes.”

Isaac Asimov

Source: The Foundation series (1951–1993), Foundation and Empire (1952), Chapter 13 “Lieutenant and Clown”

Dreams , Reality

“The Law of conservation of energy tells us we can't get something for nothing, but we refuse to believe it.”

Isaac Asimov

Book of Science and Nature Quotations (1988)
General sources

Law