Jack Vance citations (253 citations, Page 7)

Bah!" muttered Hurtiancz. "By the same token, a sensible man need listen to but a single word in order to recognize the whole for egregious nonsense."
"Morreion", Ch. 8
Dying Earth (1950-1984), Rhialto the Marvellous (1984)

“I was trained in the old tradition! We found our strength in the basic verities, to which you, as a patrician, must surely subscribe. Am I right in this?”

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Jack Vance Dying Earth

“Absolutely, and in all respects!” declared Cugel. “Recognizing, of course, that these fundamental verities vary from region to region, and even from person to person.”
Source: Dying Earth (1950-1984), Cugel's Saga (1983), Chapter 3, section 2, "Faucelme"

“Let them scoff as they see fit! I will never compromise what I consider my art, especially for the sake of gain!”

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Jack Vance livre Showboat World

“For the sake of gain I’d compromise the art of my grandmother,” muttered Zamp under his breath.
Source: Showboat World (1975), Chapter 14 (p. 168)

“You’re sure you want to look into these cognates? You might see things you wouldn’t like.”

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Jack Vance

“So long as I know the truth, I don’t care whether I like it or not.”
Section 6 (p. 186)
Short fiction, Rumfuddle (1973)

“Gambling, in the ultimate study, stems from the passive, the submissive, the irresponsible in human nature; the gambler is one of an inferior lickspittle breed who turns himself belly-upward to the capricious deeds of Luck. Examine now the man of strength and action: he is never led by destiny. He drives on a decided course, manipulates the variables, and instead of submitting to the ordained shape of his life, creates a pattern to his own design.”

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Jack Vance

Startling Stories (September 1948), p. 113
Short fiction, Sanatoris Short-Cut (1948)

“My wealth is my shelf of books!”

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Jack Vance Demon Princes

Source: Demon Princes (1964-1981), The Face (1979), Chapter 14 (p. 173)

“Do you deny the charges?”

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Jack Vance Planet of Adventure

“I neither confirm nor deny them; they are ridiculous.”
Source: Planet of Adventure (1968-1970), The Dirdir (1969), Chapter 20 (pp. 408-409)

“You make very narrow distinctions.”

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Jack Vance livre Night Lamp

Source: Night Lamp (1996), Chapter 13, section 7 (p. 230)
Contexte: “Of course! That is the nature of clear thinking.”

“One thing was certain: when someone searched into secret places, he often came up with things he would rather not have found.”

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Jack Vance livre Night Lamp

Source: Night Lamp (1996), Chapter 5, section 3 (p. 81)

“They meant no harm, of course; they wanted only that he be like themselves, which was the prerogative of all parents.”

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Jack Vance livre Night Lamp

Source: Night Lamp (1996), Chapter 5, section 1 (p. 68)

“There is no mystery about violence. It is the reflexive act of brutes, boors and moral defectives.”

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Jack Vance livre Night Lamp

Source: Night Lamp (1996), Chapter 3, section 1 (p. 37)

“Except for a few special cases, title to every parcel of real property derives from an act of violence, more or less remote, and ownership is only as valid as the strength and will required to maintain it. That is the lesson of history, whether you like it or not.”

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Jack Vance livre The Gray Prince

“The mourning of defeated peoples, while pathetic and tragic, is usually futile,” said Kelse.
Source: The Gray Prince (1975 [serialized 1974]), Chapter 16 (p. 159)

“The travesty exists only because reliance upon abstraction has made reality incomprehensible to you.”

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Jack Vance livre The Gray Prince

Source: The Gray Prince (1975 [serialized 1974]), Chapter 16 (p. 159)

“How I hate you. If hate were stone I could build a tower into the clouds.”

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Jack Vance livre The Gray Prince

Source: The Gray Prince (1975 [serialized 1974]), Chapter 15 (p. 152)

“Urban folk, dealing as they do in ideas and abstractions, become conditioned to unreality. Then, wherever the fabric of civilization breaks, these people are as helpless as fish out of water.”

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Jack Vance livre The Gray Prince

Source: The Gray Prince (1975 [serialized 1974]), Chapter 4 (p. 49)