“Charm was what he excelled at. If anyone sensed his underlying shallowness, they usually mistook it for well-hidden great depth of character, like misinterpreting a radar bounce.”

— Alastair Reynolds, book Century Rain

Source: Century Rain (2004), Chapter 4 (p. 42)

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 "Charm was what he excelled at. If anyone sensed his underlying shallowness, they usually mistook it for well-hidden gre…" by Alastair Reynolds?

Alastair Reynolds photo

Alastair Reynolds198

British novelist and astronomer 1966

Related quotes

“To be free to be spontaneously & creatively shallow requires depth of character & a disciplined focus.”

David Allen (1945) American productivity consultant and author

29 April 2011 https://twitter.com/gtdguy/status/63977062188335104 <br class="br"> Official Twitter profile (@gtdguy) https://twitter.com/gtdguy

“His notions fitted things so well,
That which was which he could not tell;
But oftentimes mistook th' one
For th' other, as great clerks have done.”

Samuel Butler (poet) Hudibras

Canto I, line 131
Hudibras, Part I (1663–1664)
Context: Whatever sceptic could inquire for,
For ev'ry why he had a wherefore;
Knew more than forty of them do,
As far as words and terms cou'd go.
All which he understood by rote
And, as occasion serv'd, would quote;
No matter whether right or wrong,
They might be either said or sung.
His notions fitted things so well,
That which was which he could not tell;
But oftentimes mistook th' one
For th' other, as great clerks have done.

“I must be a mermaid, Rango. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.”

Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica

“The scope of America's global hegemony is admittedly great, but its depth is shallow, limited by both domestic and external restraints.”

Zbigniew Brzeziński book The Grand Chessboard

Source: The Grand Chessboard (1997), Chapter 2, The Eurasian Chessboard, p. 35.

“the depth of a person's character is not measured by his or her physical strength, but by the depth of his or her nobility.”

Frank E. Peretti (1951) American writer

“Though it lash the shallows that line the beach,
Afar from the great sea-deeps,
There is never a storm whose might can reach
Where the vast leviathan sleeps.
Like a mighty thought in a mighty mind
In the clear cold depths he swims;
Whilst above him the pettiest form of his kind
With a dash o'er the surface skims.”

John Boyle O'Reilly (1844–1890) Irish-born poet and novelist

Prelude to the amber whale.

“In magic, anyone with a shop-bought trick deck is a magician, and if people aren’t fooled they usually pretend to be, and they are understandably likely to mistake being fooled as a sign of being in the presence of an excellent magician.”

Derren Brown (1971) British illusionist

Books, Confessions of a Conjuror (2010)

“Everyone seems to be playing well within the boundaries of his usual rule set. I have yet to hear anyone say something that seemed likely to mitigate the idiocy of this age.”

John Perry Barlow (1947–2018) American poet and essayist

On The International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism, and Security - Personal blog http://barlow.typepad.com/ from Madrid, Spain (10 March 2005)

“The Don's difficult role never seemed to tax Juozapaitis excellent dramatic voice. Throughout the opera listeners were charmed by his great expressive range as he moved with ease from comic exchanges with Leporello to tender love sings.”

Vytautas Juozapaitis (1963) Lithuanian opera singer

Martha Fawbush, "Bravo Concerts opens with excellent performance of Mozart classic". Asheville Citizen Times (October, 2003)

“D’Artagnan: Why is Athos sitting by himself?
Aramis: He takes his drinking very seriously. Not to worry, he’ll be his usual charming self by morning.”

Alexandre Dumas book The Three Musketeers

Source: The Three Musketeers

Related topics