“Humanity does not ask us to be happy. It merely asks us to be brilliant on its behalf.”
Source: Ender's Game
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Orson Scott Card 586
American science fiction novelist 1951Related quotes

The Mexican-American and the Church (1968)
Context: What do we want the Church to do? We don't ask for more cathedrals. We don't ask for bigger churches of fine gifts. We ask for its presence with us, beside us, as Christ among us. We ask the Church to sacrifice with the people for social change, for justice, and for love of brother. We don't ask for words. We ask for deeds. We don't ask for paternalism. We ask for servanthood.

“Life does not ask what we want. It presents us with options”

and this, my friends, is crucial.
Inaugural Address (1989)

Two in the Bush (1966)
Context: The attitude of the average person to the world they live in is completely selfish. When I take people round to see my animals, one of the first questions they ask (unless the animal is cute and appealing) is, "what use is it?" by which they mean, "what use is it to them?" To this one can reply "What use is the Acropolis?" Does a creature have to be of direct material use to mankind in order to exist? By and large, by asking the question "what use is it?" you are asking the animal to justify its existence without having justified your own.

As quoted in Free as in Freedom : Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ch08.html (2002) by Sam Williams; Ch. 8 : St. Ignucius
2000s