Quotes from book
The Languages of Pao

The Languages of Pao
Jack Vance

The Languages of Pao is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, first published in 1958, in which the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis is a central theme. A shorter version was published in Satellite Science Fiction in late 1957. After the Avalon Books hardcover appeared the next year, it was reprinted in paperback by Ace Books in 1966 and reissued in 1968 and 1974. Additional hardcover and paperback reprints have followed, as well as British, French and Italian editions.

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“There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is impossible.”

Jack Vance book The Languages of Pao

Source: The Languages of Pao (1958), Chapter 13 (p. 133)

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““I learned a great deal,” said Beran. “And then I lost all heart for further learning.”
Palafox’s eyes glinted. “Education is not achieved through the heart—it is a systematization of the mental processes.”
“But I am something other than a mental process,” said Beran. “I am a man. I must reckon with the whole of myself.””

Jack Vance book The Languages of Pao

Source: The Languages of Pao (1958), Chapter 13 (p. 133)

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“Speaking our language, you will understand us—and if you can think as another man thinks, you cannot dislike him.”

Jack Vance book The Languages of Pao

Source: The Languages of Pao (1958), Chapter 8 (p. 64)

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“When you demand the nature of my motives, you reveal the style of your thinking to be callow, captious, superficial, craven, uncertain and impudent.”

Jack Vance book The Languages of Pao

Source: The Languages of Pao (1958), Chapter 14 (p. 149)

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“Your thoughts move with the deft precision of worm-tracks in the mud.”

Jack Vance book The Languages of Pao

Source: The Languages of Pao (1958), Chapter 14 (p. 149)

Jack Vance photo

““Truth” is contained in the preconceptions of him who seeks to define it. Any organization of ideas whatever presupposes a judgment on the world.”

Jack Vance book The Languages of Pao

Source: The Languages of Pao (1958), Chapter 11 (p. 112)

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