Neal Stephenson: Trending quotes

“See, the world is full of things more powerful than us. But if you know how to catch a ride, you can go places”

“Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game because they almost always turn out to be—or to be indistinguishable from—self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time.”

“The difference between stupid and intelligent people – and this is true whether or not they are well-educated – is that intelligent people can handle subtlety.”

“She's a woman, you're a dude. You're notto understand her. That'swhat she's after…. She doesn't want you to understand. She knowsimpossible. She just wants you to understand. Everything else is negotiable.”

“Our opponent is an alien starship packed with atomic bombs," I said. "We have a protractor.”

“When you are wrestling for possession of a sword, the man with the handle always wins.”

“To condense fact from the vapor of nuance.”

“Whenever serious and competent people need to get things done in the real world, all considerations of tradition and protocol fly out the window.”

“Nothing is more important than that you see and love the beauty that is right in front of you, or else you will have no defense against the ugliness that will hem you in and come at you in so many ways.”

“It was, of course, nothing more than sexism, the especially virulent type espoused by male techies who sincerely believe that they are too smart to be sexists.”

“I don't even want you to nod, that's how much you annoy me. Just freeze and shut up.”

“Boredom is a mask frustration wears.”

“Talent was not rare; the ability to survive having it was.”

“The full cosmos consists of the physical stuffconsciousness. Take away consciousness and it's only dust; add consciousness and you get things, ideas, and time.”

“That we occasionally violate our own stated moral code does not imply that we are insincere in espousing that code.”

“This made him a grad student, and grad students existed not to learn things but to relieve the tenured faculty members of tiresome burdens such as educating people and doing research.”

“Well, all information looks like noise until you break the code.”

“This Snow Crash thing--is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?”

Juanita shrugs. “What's the difference?”

“The best way to know someone is to have a conversation with them.”