Kim Stanley Robinson: Quotes about people

Kim Stanley Robinson is American science fiction writer. Explore interesting quotes on people.
Kim Stanley Robinson: 196   quotes 0   likes

“Science fiction rarely is about scientists doing real science, in its slowness, its vagueness, the sort of tedious quality of getting out there and digging amongst rocks and then trying to convince people that what you're seeing justifies the conclusions you're making.”

Interview http://www.locusmag.com/1997/Issues/09/KSRobinson.html in Locus, (September 1997)
Context: Science fiction rarely is about scientists doing real science, in its slowness, its vagueness, the sort of tedious quality of getting out there and digging amongst rocks and then trying to convince people that what you're seeing justifies the conclusions you're making. The whole process of science is wildly under-represented in science fiction because it's not easy to write about. There are many facets of science that are almost exactly opposite of dramatic narrative. It's slow, tedious, inconclusive, it's hard to tell good guys from bad guys — it's everything that a normal hour of Star Trek is not.

“People then form their judgment on what they think of X and Y.”

John Boone
Red Mars (1992)
Context: The only part of an argument that really matters is what we think of the people arguing. X claims a, Y claims b. They make arguments to support their claims with any number of points. But when their listeners remember the discussion, what matters is simply that X believes a and Y believes b. People then form their judgment on what they think of X and Y.

“The only part of an argument that really matters is what we think of the people arguing.”

John Boone
Red Mars (1992)
Context: The only part of an argument that really matters is what we think of the people arguing. X claims a, Y claims b. They make arguments to support their claims with any number of points. But when their listeners remember the discussion, what matters is simply that X believes a and Y believes b. People then form their judgment on what they think of X and Y.

“Revolution suspends habit as well as law. But just as nature abhors a vacuum, people abhor anarchy.”

Source: Green Mars (1993), Chapter 10, “Phase Change” (p. 579)

“Most ignorance is by choice, you know, and so ignorance is very telling about what really matters to people.”

Source: Red Mars (1992), Chapter 5, “Falling into History” (p. 375)

“You can’t make love to your fame. Even though some people try.”

Source: Red Mars (1992), Chapter 4, “Homesick” (p. 221)