Quotes from book

The Martian Chronicles

“It is good to renew one's wonder, said the philosopher. Space travel has again made children of us all.”

“Science is no more than an investigation of a miracle we can never explain, and art is an interpretation of that miracle.”

“Do you ever wonder if--well, if there are people living on the third planet?'
'The third planet is incapable of supporting life,' stated the husband patiently. 'Our scientists have said there's far too much oxygen in their atmosphere.”

“I'm not anyone, I'm just myself; whatever I am, I am something, and now I'm something you can't help.”

“I’m being ironic. Don't interrupt a man in the midst of being ironic, it’s not polite.”

“I'm numb and I'm tired. Too much has happened today. I feel as if I'd been out in a pounding rain for forty-eight hours without an umbrella or a coat. I'm soaked to the skin with emotion.”

“Why live? Life was its own answer. Life was the propagation of more life and the living of as good a life as possible.”

“The Martians were there—in the canal—reflected in the water…. The Martians stared back up at them for a long, long silent time from the rippling water….”

“Can't you recognize the human in the inhuman?”

“You're insane!"
"I won't argue that point.”

“The rocket stood in the cold winter morning, making summer with every breath of its mighty exhausts. The rocket made climates, and summer lay for a brief moment upon the land.”

“I have something to fight for and live for; that makes me a better killer. I’ve got what amounts to a religion, now.”

“Marriage made people old and familiar, while still young.”

“The gods had gone away, and the ritual of the religion continued senselessly, uselessly.”

“We Earth Men have a talent for ruining big beautiful things. The only reason we didn’t set up hot-dog stands in the midst of the Egyptian temple of Karnak is because it was out of the way and served no large commercial purpose.”

“Timothy looked at the deep ocean sky, trying to see Earth and the war and the ruined cities and the men killing each other since the day he was born. But he saw nothing. The war was as removed and far off as two flies battling to the death in the arch of a great high and silent cathedral. And just as senseless…
“What are you looking at so hard, Dad?”
“I was looking for Earthian logic, common sense, good government, peace, and responsibility.”
“All that up there?”
“No. I didn’t find it. It’s not there any more. Maybe it’ll never be there again. Maybe we fooled ourselves that it was ever there.””