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The worst mistake of first contact, made throughout history by individuals on both sides of every new encounter, has been the unfortunate habit of making assumptions. It often proved fatal.

David Brin

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David Brin
Age: 74
Born: 1950
Born: October 6
Astronomer
Astrophysicist
Novelist
Physicist
Science Fiction Writer
Scientist
Screenwriter
Writer
Glendale
California
USA
Glen David Brin
Every
Literature
Assumption
Making
Throughout
Individual
Contact
Assumptions
History
Individuals
Fatal
Often
Habit
Proved
Firsts
Mistake
Encounter
First
Worst
Unfortunate
Made
Sides
Encounters

More quotes by David Brin

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I like to be surprised. Fresh implications and plot twists erupt as a story unfolds. Characters develop backgrounds, adding depth and feeling. Writing feels like exploring
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All this talk of using tax policy to 'assess social costs'...what a dumb idea. The only way to stop polluters is to put them against walls and shoot them.
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In the end, the work of diplomats continues even while others fight. So, it's not necessarily true that everyone needs to march.
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Cultural contamination that is directed outward is always seen as ‘enlightenment.'
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But honestly, if you do a rigorous survey of my work, I'll bet you'll find that biology is a theme far more often than physical science.
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I hate the whole übermensch, superman temptation that pervades science fiction. I believe no protagonist should be so competent, so awe-inspiring, that a committee of 20 really hard-working, intelligent people couldn't do the same thing.
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When it comes to privacy and accountability, people always demand the former for themselves and the latter for everyone else.
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Everything isn't subjective. Reality also matters. Truth matters. It is still a word with meaning.
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What point was there in pursuing an ever-elusive popularity?
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The best time to act on this was decades ago. The second best time is now.
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It's how creativity works. Especially in humans. For every good idea, ten thousand idiotic ones must first be posed, sifted, tried out, and discarded. A mind that's afraid to toy with the ridiculous will never come up with the brilliantly original.
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I find humans tremendously interesting
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Anyone who wants simple, pat stories should buy another author's product. The real universe ain't that way, and neither are my fictive ones.
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I would normally never set out to write a trilogy.
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Gaia spins on, silently contemplating what it means to be born into a sarcastic universe.
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With gritty action and realistic science, Peter Watts brings to life a dark and vivid world.
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Self-righteous people can talk themselves into forgetting they are part of a civilization. They can then feed on that culture, bringing it down. It's happened many times in the past. It could happen to us.
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Life is not fair... Anyone who says it is, or even that it ought to be, is a fool or worse.
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If you believe you can make a living as a writer, you already have enough ego.
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Prison for the crime of puberty -- that was how secondary school had seemed.
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