David Brin citations (123 citations, Page 4)

David Brin: 123 citations 0 J'aime

David Brin: Citations en anglais

“The heritage we give our children, and the myths we leave to sustain them, must work with the tug and press of life, or they will fail. Adaptability has to be enshrined alongside stability, or the ghost of Darwin will surely come back to haunt us, whispering in our ears the penalty of conceit.
We wish our descendants happiness. But over time one criterion alone will judge our efforts.
Survival.”

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David Brin livre Glory Season

Introduction to Chapter 12 (p. 192)
Glory Season (1993)

“She had called in the debt that parents owe a child for bringing her, unasked, into a strange world. One should never make an offer without knowing full well what will happen if it is accepted.”

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David Brin livre The Uplift War

Source: The Uplift War (1987), Chapter 73 (p. 480)

“It’s clear that male human beings should never have been left in control of the world all these centuries. Many of you are wonderful beyond belief, but too many others will always be bloody lunatics.
Your sex is simply built that way. Its better side gave us power and light, science and reason, medicine and philosophy. Meanwhile the dark half spent its time dreaming up unimaginable hells and putting them into practice.”

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David Brin livre The Postman

Source: The Postman (1985), Section 3, “Cincinnatus”, Chapter 9 (p. 225)

“What point was there in pursuing an ever-elusive popularity?”

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David Brin livre Startide Rising

Source: Startide Rising (1983), Chapter 38 (p. 199)

“After all,” he muttered, “what can they do to shake the confidence of a fellow who’s got delusions of adequacy?”

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David Brin livre The Uplift War

Source: The Uplift War (1987), Chapter 83 (p. 537)

“All right,” she said. “You’ve convinced me. Men are good for something, after all.”

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David Brin livre Glory Season

Source: Glory Season (1993), Chapter 23 (p. 429)

“One great mystery is why sexual reproduction became dominant for higher life-forms. Optimization theory says it should be otherwise.
Take a fish or lizard, ideally suited to her environment, with just the right internal chemistry, agility, camouflage—whatever it takes to be healthy, fecund, and successful in her world. Despite all this, she cannot pass on her perfect characteristics. After sex, her offspring will be jumbles, getting only half of their program from her and half their re-sorted genes somewhere else.
Sex inevitably ruins perfection. Parthenogenesis would seem to work better—at least theoretically. In simple, static environments, well-adapted lizards who produce duplicate daughters are known to have advantages over those using sex.
Yet, few complex animals are known to perform self-cloning. And those species exist in ancient, stable deserts, always in close company with a related sexual species.
Sex has flourished because environments are seldom static. Climate, competition, parasites—all make for shifting conditions. What was ideal in one generation may be fatal the next. With variability, your offspring get a fighting chance. Even in desperate times, one or more of them may have what it takes to meet new challenges and thrive.
Each style has its advantages, then. Cloning offers stability and preservation of excellence. Sex gives adaptability to changing times. In nature it is usually one or the other. Only lowly creatures such as aphids have the option of switching back and forth.”

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David Brin livre Glory Season

Introduction to Chapter 8 (pp. 123-124)
Glory Season (1993)

“Daisy had learned not to pay much heed to techno-fads. To her fell the task of preserving as much as possible, so that when humanity finally did fall, it wouldn’t take everything else to the grave with it.”

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David Brin livre Earth

Part VIII (p. 471)
Earth (1990)

“Blatant idiocies had been tried by early men and women—foolishness that would never have been considered by species aware of the laws of nature. Desperate superstitions had bred during the savage centuries. Styles of government, intrigues, philosophies were tested with abandon. It was almost as if Orphan Earth had been a planetary laboratory, upon which a series of senseless and bizarre experiments were tried.”

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David Brin livre Startide Rising

Source: Startide Rising (1983), Chapter 23 (p. 141)

“Anyone who tries to predict the future is inevitably a fool. Present company included. A prophet without a sense of humor is just stupid.”

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David Brin livre Earth

Part III (p. 143)
Earth (1990)

“Some smart moves were little more than nicely padded traps.”

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David Brin livre Glory Season

Source: Glory Season (1993), Chapter 1 (p. 19)

“You can’t fight biology. Only push at the rules, here and there.”

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David Brin livre Glory Season

Source: Glory Season (1993), Chapter 5 (p. 90)

“The worst mistake of first contact, made throughout history by individuals on both sides of every new encounter, has been the unfortunate habit of making assumptions. It often proved fatal.”

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David Brin

A Contrarian Perspective on Altruism : The Dangers of First Contact (September 2002) http://www.setileague.org/iaaseti/brin.pdf, p. 22

“At her station in life, wisdom dictated keeping a low profile.
And yet…”

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David Brin livre Glory Season

Source: Glory Season (1993), Chapter 3 (p. 61)

“Naroin stopped, shook her head. “Take it from an experienced hand, child. It’s no good blamin’ yourself for what you couldn’t prevent. Not so long as you tried.”
Maia’s lips pressed together. That was exactly what she had been telling herself. From the look in Naroin’s eyes, it didn’t get much more believable as you got older.”

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David Brin livre Glory Season

Source: Glory Season (1993), Chapter 26 (p. 514)

“A sane being wished for peace and serenity, not to be the mortar in which the ingredients of destiny are finely ground.”

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David Brin livre The Uplift War

Source: The Uplift War (1987), Chapter 72 (p. 474)

“What kind of man takes a live bomb across the seas in order to blow up other people? People who have mothers and lovers and children, just like him?
Probably either a professional or a patriot, Alex thought. Or, worse, both.”

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David Brin livre Earth

Part IX (p. 524)
Earth (1990)

“All this talk of using tax policy to ‘assess social costs’…what a dumb idea. The only way to stop polluters is to put them against walls and shoot them.”

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David Brin livre Earth

Part VII (p. 327)
Earth (1990)

“It is senseless to proclaim that it’s evil to make generalizations about groups. Generalization is a natural human mental process, and many generalizations are true—in average. What often does promote evil behavior is the lazy, nasty habit of believing that generalizations have anything at all to do with individuals. We have no right to pre-judge that a specific man can’t nurture, or a particular woman cannot fight.”

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David Brin livre Glory Season

Afterword (p. 562)
Glory Season (1993)

“They say survival is Nature’s only form of flattery.”

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David Brin livre Glory Season

Source: Glory Season (1993), Chapter 26 (p. 512)

“She closed her eyes. And while her intellect wouldn’t let her realize her deepest fear, that all this might soon be gone forever, nevertheless she stood there for a time and worshipped the only way a person like her could worship—in silence and solitude, under the temple of the sky.”

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David Brin livre Earth

Part VI (p. 307)
Earth (1990)

“There was that word quaint again. It seemed to refer patronizingly to anything simple or backward, from the viewpoint of a city-bred tourist.”

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David Brin livre Glory Season

Source: Glory Season (1993), Chapter 5 (p. 90)

“I’d rather be dead than so suspicious I can’t trust anybody.”

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David Brin livre Glory Season

Source: Glory Season (1993), Chapter 26 (p. 525)

““Huh,” Sepak thought, marveling how much one could learn by just sitting still and observing. It wasn’t a skill one learned in the frenetic pace of modern society.”

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David Brin livre Earth

Part IX (pp. 501-502)
Earth (1990)

““Where there is mind, there is always solution,” Keneenk taught. All problems contained the elements of their answer.”

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David Brin livre Startide Rising

Source: Startide Rising (1983), Chapter 34 (p. 183)

“The Union will awaken. It always has. We always will.”

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David Brin

A rant about stupidity... and the coming civil war... (2009)

“Look at all the happiest, sanest people you've known, Nelson. Really listen to them. I bet you'll find they don’t fear a little inconsistency or uncertainty now and then. Oh, they try always to be true to their core beliefs, to achieve their goals and keep their promises. Still, they also avoid too much rigidity, forgiving the occasional contradiction and unexpected thought. They are content to be many.”

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David Brin livre Earth

Part XI (p. 630)
Earth (1990)

“How can we set up a system which encourages individuals to strive and excel, and yet which shows some compassion to the weak, and weeds out madmen and tyrants?”

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David Brin livre The Postman

Source: The Postman (1985), Section 3, “Cincinnatus”, Chapter 14 (p. 266)

““How did he get away with pushing a book like this? How is it anyone ever believed him?”
Gordon shrugged. “It was called ‘the Big Lie’ technique, Johnny. Just sound like you know what you’re talking about—as if you’re reciting facts. Talk very fast. Weave your lies into the shape of a conspiracy theory and repeat your assertions over and over again. Those who want an excuse to hate or blame—those with big but weak egos—will leap at a simple, neat explanation for the way the world is. Those types will never call you on the facts.””

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David Brin livre The Postman

Source: The Postman (1985), Section 3, “Cincinnatus”, Chapter 13 (p. 255)

“How far do we owe loyalty to our creators’ dream? When have we earned the right to dream for ourselves?”

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David Brin livre Glory Season

Source: Glory Season (1993), Chapter 24 (p. 442)

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