“I had read in the story-cube that the speed of light was a universal limit; that in a thousand years of experimentation—despite any number of false dawns—no one had ever managed to circumvent it. This had made me feel hemmed in and claustrophobic—it was like being told I must never run or skip down the long, dreary corridors of the house, but must walk instead, with my neck straight and my hands held behind my back. I felt affronted, as if the speed of light was a personal assault on my liberty. Why should I not go as fast as I pleased? Why should I not skip and run? But I could no more explain why the speed limit existed than I could explain why two and two did not make five. It was simply the way things were, one of those rules—like the edict not to visit certain parts of the house—that were not to be questioned.”

—  Alastair Reynolds , book House of Suns

Introduction to Part 2 (p. 100)
House of Suns (2008)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I had read in the story-cube that the speed of light was a universal limit; that in a thousand years of experimentation…" by Alastair Reynolds?
Alastair Reynolds photo
Alastair Reynolds 198
British novelist and astronomer 1966

Related quotes

Bob Seger photo

“My hands were steady,
My eyes were clear and bright.
My walk had purpose,
My steps were quick and light.
And I held firm to what I felt was right.
Like a rock.”

Bob Seger (1945) American singer-songwriter

Like a Rock.
Song lyrics, Like a Rock (1986)

Richard Bach photo

“You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed. And that isn't flying a thousand miles an hour, or a million, or flying at the speed of light. Because any number is a limit, and perfection doesn't have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.”

Richard Bach book Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970)

Emil M. Cioran photo

“We had nothing to say to one another, and while I was manufacturing my phrases I felt that earth was falling through space and that I was falling with it at a speed that made me dizzy.”

Emil M. Cioran book The Trouble With Being Born

The Trouble With Being Born (1973)

Zadie Smith photo

“A truth was being revealed to me: that I had always tried to attach myself to the light of other people, that I had never had any light of my own. I experienced myself as a kind of shadow.”

Zadie Smith book Swing Time

Source: Swing Time

Isaac Asimov photo

“Weisinger, a couple of years ago, made up the following story: "Isaac Asimov was asked how Superman could fly faster than the speed of light, which was supposed to be an absolute limit. To this Asimov replied, 'That the speed of light is a limit is a theory; that Superman can travel faster than light is a fact.'"
I assure you it never happened and I never said it, but it will be repeated, I am quite certain, indefinitely, and it will probably be found in Bartlett's quotations a century from now, attributed to me, after all my writings have been forgotten.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

"Science Fiction, 1938" Nebula Winners 14 (1980) edited by Frederick J. Pohl, p. 97
General sources

Donna Tartt photo

“Yet my longing for her was like a bad cold that had hung on for years despite my conviction that I was sure to get over it at any moment.”

Donna Tartt book The Secret History

Source: The Secret History

Donna Tartt photo

“I suppose at one time in my life I might have had any number of stories, but now there is no other. This is the only story I will ever be able to tell.”

Donna Tartt book The Secret History

Source: The Secret History

Tracy Chevalier photo

“I had walked along that street all my life, but had never been so aware that my back was to my home”

Tracy Chevalier book Girl with a Pearl Earring

Source: Girl with a Pearl Earring

Edsger W. Dijkstra photo

“When I came back from Munich, it was September, and I was Professor of Mathematics at the Eindhoven University of Technology. Later I learned that I had been the Department's third choice, after two numerical analysts had turned the invitation down; the decision to invite me had not been an easy one, on the one hand because I had not really studied mathematics, and on the other hand because of my sandals, my beard and my "arrogance"”

Edsger W. Dijkstra (1930–2002) Dutch computer scientist

whatever that may be
Dijkstra (1993) "From my Life" http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD11xx/EWD1166.html (EWD 1166).
1990s

Related topics