James Nicoll: Trending quotes

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James Nicoll: 138 quotes0 likes

“Ben Bova seems to work very hard at working in new discoveries into his Glum Future but alas, his future is glum and not that well written.”

[dfsgau$rel$1@reader1.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“[H]umans hate to admit error even as they stand there, black and smoldering, with the stub of a cigarette in one hand, in the middle of a wide crater containing them and the remains of a sign that once read 'DANGER: VOLATILE EXPLOSIVES”

[d8ceo5$gng$1@reader1.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“Thoughtful consideration has led me to decide that romance, involving as it does the highly complex interaction of human neurochemisty{sic} with cultural and technological factors, is hard SF. Very hard SF because romance is especially difficult to mentally simulate accurately, not easy-peasy like rocket science. Romance as hard SF may seem counterintuitive, but it’s the counterintuitive results of modeling that are often the most interesting outcomes.”

review of Don't Fear the Reaper, by Zen Cho http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/dont-fear-the-reaper, 2016 <br class="br">2010s

“Hell, Chuck Yeager could do it in his sleep while on fire, I'm sure.”

[b1rcb7$83k$1@panix1.panix.com, 2003]
2000s

“Most of my scars are not fire-related and I no longer say "I know what I am doing" at critical moments.”

[dgpfn2$h61$1@reader1.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“I have hated every Kress I read, especially this one, but the Bear is a standard Bear and if you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you'll like.”

[at2mut$at9$1@panix1.panix.com, 2002]
Compare "People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like." (attributed to w:Abraham Lincoln).
2000s

“[The cat] and I have an agreement: I leave her alone and don't make sudden moves when I wake up to find her perched on my chest, staring with an unblinking hostile gaze at my face and in return she rarely mutilates me.”

[dl571e$11k$1@reader2.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“[Elizabeth Moon's] antagonists are always evil moustache-twirlers. She could write a book about a golf open and the main rival to the hero would turn out to have clubs made from compressed kittens.”

[efprv2$bpa$1@reader1.panix.com, 2006]
2000s

“(James) White seems from all reports to have been a very pleasant fellow but he did have one huge blind spot, which is that he was as sexist as a giant ball of sexists wrapped in a dense layer of yet more sexists.”

(review of 'The Lights Outside the Windows' by James White (collected in "Deadly Litter") https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/the-universe-is-antagonist-enough, 2014 <br class="br">2010s

“The number of times I have been declared dead is statistically insignificant, although admittedly non-zero.”

[d5oimc$32d$1@reader1.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“It takes a courageous Mormon to turn to archaeology to support their argument”

LiveJournal post title http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/622558.html (2006) <br class="br">2010s

“Alas, time and head injuries are stealing all my memories.”

Review of Women of Wonder, anthology edited by Pamela Sargent https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/by-women-about-women, 2015 <br class="br">2010s

“Manitoba… Not sure what to do about them. Restock the province with megafauna and encourage tourism, I think. How quickly can we breed back the saber-toothed cats?”

[deq4re$ki7$1@reader2.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“Look, I tried the cat experiment. On the third trial, the cat was dead. On each of the subsequent 413 trials, it remained dead. Am I doing something wrong?”

[1992Mar11.195332.28642@watdragon.waterloo.edu, 1992]
1990s

“Atomic war is bad but you know what’s even worse? Having had enough atomic wars that you can rank them in terms of horribleness.”

Review of Voodoo Planet: Solar Queen, book 3 by Andre Norton http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/oh-andre-norton-no, 2015 <br class="br">2010s

“The one job that machines cannot do is be a cruel plutocrat. That’s why humans are still needed.”

Review of Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/i-dont-care-what-happens-to-these-characters, 2015 <br class="br">2010s

“I believe that I have now experienced the lifetime maximum exposure to bottom spanking in fantasy novels.”

[diu2g2$dc1$1@reader2.panix.com, 2005]
2000s

“This I (still) believe:
Fire is not necessarily your friend. Neither are dogs. Things with lit fuses should not be held onto. Beware the savage croquet ball. If it is -30 out, put on a coat before you leave the house. Just because the snow keeps you from seeing other objects the objects do not cease to exist. Clotheslines are the enemy of the bicyclist. If you don't remember how you got on the ground or where the blood came from, don't get up right away. Gym teachers think it's funny to commit assault with a baseball so don't day-dream during PE even if they have you so far in the outfield there are DEW line posts on either side of you. All guns are loaded. So are many bows. Trebuchets are for outside use only…”

Facebook post (2014) https://www.facebook.com/james.nicoll.927/posts/10152710405547985 <br class="br">2010s

“The thing about the Star Wars expanded universe that most impresses me is how the need for endless sequels has taken what was way back in the late Disco a fairly upbeat series where the good guys eventually prevailed and turned into a crapsack setting that's grimmer than the disintegration of Yugoslavia, Congo Wars I & II and the Mongol Conquests combined.”

Bujold list message http://lists.herald.co.uk/pipermail/lois-bujold/2011-February/070018.html (2011) <br class="br">2010s

“My father once discovered that one cannot "walk off" gangrene.”

[dvhsne$d0k$1@reader2.panix.com, 2006]
2000s