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Michael Swanwick cytaty
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Michael Jurgen Swanwick – amerykański pisarz fantasy i science fiction oraz krytyk fantastyki. Jeden z najczęściej nagradzanych twórców s-f ostatnich lat. Zajmuje się także teorią fantastyki. Mieszka w Filadelfii. Wikipedia  

✵ 18. Listopad 1950
Michael Swanwick Fotografia
Michael Swanwick: 100 cytatów0 Polubień

Michael Swanwick słynne cytaty

„Tak wygląda cena, jaką płaci się za posiadanie surowego umysłu. Człowiek jest cały czas zdany na łaskę i niełaskę sił, których do końca nie rozumie. Przez moment czułem się jak zdziczałe dziecko, które stoi zawieszone między polem uprawnym a puszczą, gdzie grasują wilki, niezdolne dokonać wyboru między jednym a drugim.”

Michael Swanwick

Surowe umysły

„Czasami – stwierdziłem ostrożnie – lubię swoje emocje.
– Ja też – kiedy mam je pod kontrolą – odparła nieco szorstko Hellene. – Nie wolno oceniać przeżyć na podstawie wadliwie działającego mediatora.”

Michael Swanwick

Surowe umysły

„Zwróciłem uwagę na Hellene nie dlatego, że była piękna – kto po pierwszej godzinie patrzy jeszcze na urodę?”

Michael Swanwick

Surowe umysły

„Co widzisz, kiedy medytujesz?
– Czasem pocieszenie; innym razem ból.
– Nie lubię dwuznaczności. To wytwór starego świata.”

Michael Swanwick

Surowe umysły

Michael Swanwick: Cytaty po angielsku

““You are still infested with hope. You think there is a life worth living somewhere, and that some combination of action, restraint, knowledge, and luck will save you, if only you can get the mix right. Well, I’ve got news for you. Right here, right now—this is as good as it gets.”
“Things will get better!”
“Have they ever?” The dragon’s contempt was palpable. The cabin hatch hissed open. “Go. Return to your dormitory room and enjoy your present. Come back when you’ve grown large enough to look upon futility without flinching. Come back when you’ve despaired and moved beyond despair to vengefulness. Come back when you’ve decided to stop lying to yourself.””

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Michael Swanwick książka The Iron Dragon's Daughter

Źródło: The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993), Chapter 17 (p. 304)

“There are three stages to a battle: First you’re bored. Then you’re terrified. Then you’re dead. Each is necessary, and they must all come in the proper order.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 14, “Dreadnought” (pp. 248-249)

“If I have to play your stupid games, at least I don’t have to pretend to enjoy them.”

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Michael Swanwick

Źródło: In the Drift (1985), Chapter 1, “Mummer Kiss” (p. 4)

“Sam stood in the center of the church, listening for the presence of God. It was a hot place. The air was blue with floating radioisotopes. She glanced up at the clouds and they staggered by as if the walls were falling in on her. She looked away quickly. The air flowed around her, calm and peaceful and blue. But there was no divine presence.”

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Michael Swanwick

Źródło: In the Drift (1985), Chapter 3, “Boneseeker” (pp. 99-100)

“It was the kind of discovery that shatters old universes and opens up new ones in their place.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Vacuum Flowers

Źródło: Vacuum Flowers (1987), Chapter 11, “Cislunar” (p. 179)

“Money can always be traced. It leaves a trail of slime behind it wherever it goes.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Stations of the Tide

Źródło: Stations of the Tide (1991), Chapter 2, “Witch Cults of Whitemarsh” (p. 26)

“The universe has backed you into another corner—you can kill or die. There are no other choices. Doesn’t that make you angry? Doesn’t it make you want revenge? Or are you going to truckle to Dame Fate one more time, to be crushed and for all I know resurrected to run the maze of torment again and yet again? Stand up on your hind legs for once!”

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Michael Swanwick książka The Iron Dragon's Daughter

Źródło: The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993), Chapter 22 (p. 407)

““Now here is a treasure, Averroës Commentaries on Aristotle in a tolerable translation from the Arabic by Gerard of Cremona.” He lasciviously stroked the red leather boards, knowing well how his pupil ached for the chance to pore through it. “A liar’s gloss on a liar’s lies. Surely this is a rare criminal.””

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 1, “Trinity” (p. 7)

““What was all that about?”
“It’s an occupational hazard… You start by reading books, and you end by loving them.””

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Michael Swanwick książka The Iron Dragon's Daughter

Źródło: The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993), Chapter 15 (p. 262; ellipsis represents a minor elision of description)

“This is the price you must pay for knowledge: You must understand and acknowledge its consequences.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 2, “Revelations” (p. 30)

“Faust had no delusions of Heavenly aid. An involved and benevolent deity would have helped him long years ago when, young, he had yearned for knowledge as achingly as now and with far fewer stains on his soul.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 1, “Trinity” (p. 15)

“He was not actually drunk, but emotion made him feel as if he were. Sorrow, loss, anger—these were as good as a bottle of the very worst gin.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 19, “Ashes” (pp. 318-319)

“What the common man calls Evil, he once told me, is nothing more than the fear of one’s own potential.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 16, “The Wild Hunt” (p. 278)

““Surely,” he cried, “this is not inevitable. Surely humanity could take the knowledge you offer and use it to ennoble itself. Surely they could apply it wisely and without folly.”
“They could,” Mephistopheles said dryly. “But will they?””

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 2, “Revelations” (p. 32)

“Urban life was thus founded upon the principle of deliberately confounding those who were not a part of it. Civilization was a strategy of exclusion.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 16, “The Wild Hunt” (p. 287)

“Time was a flickering gray fire constantly consuming all things, so that what appeared to be motion was actually the oxidation and reduction of possibilities, the collapse of potential matter from grace to nothingness.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Stations of the Tide

Źródło: Stations of the Tide (1991), Chapter 6, “Lost in the Mushroom Rain” (p. 105)

“For all that she’d had no great expectations for it, sex was turning out to be even more squalid, tawdry, and cynical than she had suspected it would.”

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Michael Swanwick książka The Iron Dragon's Daughter

Źródło: The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993), Chapter 10 (p. 172)

““Did you experience hallucinations or illusions?”
“What’s the difference?”
“An illusion is a misreading of actual sensory data, while a hallucination is seeing something that isn’t there.””

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Michael Swanwick książka Stations of the Tide

Źródło: Stations of the Tide (1991), Chapter 7, “Who Is the Black Beast?” (p. 109)

“People will believe in just about any kind of superstitious crap nowadays.”

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Michael Swanwick

Źródło: In the Drift (1985), Chapter 5, “Marrow Death” (p. 152)

“That is the true measure of love, you see, the evil one will stoop to for its sake…”

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 16, “The Wild Hunt” (p. 292)

““Paid off? Do you mean bribery?”
“That is, umm, not an entirely pleasant word for it.” Dreschler’s doughy face took on a pained expression. “It is more in the nature of an advance payment to ensure the labor force will be satisfied with the negotiated wage schedules.””

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 15, “The Abortion” (p. 265)

““Machines!” Wyeth snorted. “Machines are the easiest things in the universe to outwit because they’re predictable—that’s their function, to be predictable, to do exactly what they’re designed for, time after time.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Vacuum Flowers

Źródło: Vacuum Flowers (1987), Chapter 4, “Londongrad” (p. 57)

“It was a scream straight from the toad buried at the base of the brain, that ancient reptile that wants everything at once, delivered to its feet and set ablaze.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Stations of the Tide

Źródło: Stations of the Tide (1991), Chapter 6, “Lost in the Mushroom Rain” (p. 92)

““Look,” Jane said. “Exactly what must I say to get rid of you?”

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Michael Swanwick książka The Iron Dragon's Daughter

Źródło: The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993), Chapter 20 (p. 349)

“You will study bioscience control, that ought to be useful—it will teach you the folly of thinking you can go against your genetic inheritance, for one thing.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Stations of the Tide

Źródło: Stations of the Tide (1991), Chapter 13, “A View from a Height” (p. 236)

“The secret of a good scam is not to get greedy.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Vacuum Flowers

Źródło: Vacuum Flowers (1987), Chapter 4, “Londongrad” (p. 50)

“Indeed, what is magic but impossible science?”

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Michael Swanwick książka Stations of the Tide

Źródło: Stations of the Tide (1991), Chapter 8, “Conversations in the Puzzle Palace” (p. 130)

“It was not possible for her to rejoin the unthinking world, becoming as she had been before, sleepily and smugly ignorant of consequences. There were thoughts that once thought, could not be unthought.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 17, “The Agent” (p. 304)

“All human beings have their price, and quite often it is surprisingly small. The trick consists of knowing exactly what that price is, when they themselves do not.”

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 6, “Practical Designs” (p. 83)

“Paid off? Do you mean bribery?”

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Michael Swanwick książka Jack Faust

“That is, umm, not an entirely pleasant word for it.” Dreschler’s doughy face took on a pained expression. “It is more in the nature of an advance payment to ensure the labor force will be satisfied with the negotiated wage schedules.”
Źródło: Jack Faust (1997), Chapter 15, “The Abortion” (p. 265)