Quote

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.

David Brin

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Culture
Bringing
Happens
Civilization
Past
Happen
Part
Happened
Self
Literature
Many
Talk
Forgetting
People
Forget
Righteous
Times
Feed

More quotes by David Brin

Image
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.
David Brin
Image
Everything isn't subjective. Reality also matters. Truth matters. It is still a word with meaning.
David Brin
Image
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.
David Brin
Image
Why must conversions always come so late? Why do people always apologize to corpses?
David Brin
Image
Reciprocal accountability, or criticism [is] the only known antidote to error.
David Brin
Image
Gaia spins on, silently contemplating what it means to be born into a sarcastic universe.
David Brin
Image
With gritty action and realistic science, Peter Watts brings to life a dark and vivid world.
David Brin
Image
In historical fact, all of history's despots, combined, never managed to get things done as well as this rambunctious, self-critical civilization of free and sovereign citizens, who have finally broken free of worshipping a ruling class and begun thinking for themselves. Democracy can seem frustrating and messy at times, but it delivers.
David Brin
Image
Cultural contamination that is directed outward is always seen as ‘enlightenment.'
David Brin
Image
When I begin a book, I inevitably discover many things along the way, about the characters, their past histories and the political intrigues that surround them. This discovery process is vital, and I would not prejudice it by deciding too much in advance
David Brin
Image
The village is coming back, like it or not.
David Brin
Image
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
Image
You don't have conversations with microprocessors. You tell them what to do, then helplessly watch the disaster when they take you literally!
David Brin
Image
Seldom does a storytelling talent come along as potent and fully mature as Mike Brotherton. His complex characters take you on a voyage that is both fiercely credible and astonishingly imaginative. This is Science Fiction.
David Brin
Image
Predicting has a spotty record in science fiction. I've had some failures. On the other hand, I also predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of fundamentalist Islam... and I'm not happy to be right in all of those cases
David Brin
Image
Science Fiction is the jazz of literature.
David Brin
Image
I find humans tremendously interesting
David Brin
Image
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.
David Brin
Image
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.
David Brin
Image
The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.
David Brin