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Man has always seen himself the peak of creation. The part of the universe that thinks. The purpose for it all. It's no doubt a gratifying view, but the universe may have a different opinion.

Jack McDevitt

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Jack McDevitt
Age: 89
Born: 1935
Born: April 14
Author
Novelist
Science Fiction Writer
Writer
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
Thinking
Opinion
Gratifying
Purpose
Peak
Universe
Thinks
Part
View
May
Creation
Different
Views
Always
Doubt
Men
Seen

More quotes by Jack McDevitt

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Solitude is only a good idea if you have the right people along to share it.
Jack McDevitt
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The Peacekeepers had a tradition that every problem had a solution. It was a nice slogan. Wasn't true, but it sounded good.
Jack McDevitt
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Faith is conviction without evidence, and sometimes even in the face of contrary evidence. In some quarters, this quality is perceived as a virtue.
Jack McDevitt
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Boundaries have no existence save on charts or in small minds. Nature does not draw lines.
Jack McDevitt
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There's not much to be said for sightseeing. You go somewhere that has a waterfall. You have a beer, watch the water go over the edge, and move on. Tours are all the same. In the end, the only thing that matters is the beer.
Jack McDevitt
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Katie commented that Americans had lost the ability to enjoy themselves. We watch television, Dave said.
Jack McDevitt
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But, come to think of it, there was no need to wait. Time travelers don't have to wait for anybody.
Jack McDevitt
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... the truth is that when your people don't tell you what you need to know, it's a failure of leadership.
Jack McDevitt
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Of course, they (i. e., demons) had always been observed with some regularity, but that could usually be ascribed to an overabundance of piety or wine or imagination. Take your pick.
Jack McDevitt
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If you're paying attention to your wardrobe, Rudy believed, your mind isn't sufficiently occupied.
Jack McDevitt
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There are few professions whose primary objective is to advance the cause of humanity rather than simply to make money or accrue power. Among this limited group of humanitarians I would number teachers, nurses, bookstore owners, and bartenders.
Jack McDevitt
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When things go wrong, the standard management strategy is to decide who takes the blame. This should be an underling, as far down the chain as possible, but preferably with some visibility so people know management means business.
Jack McDevitt
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Sometimes the cost of integrity is the loss of a friend.
Jack McDevitt
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See what the world looks like from orbit. Well, in that way, at least, there was profit to be had. Nobody could look down at the planet, green and blue, with no borders in evidence and no sign of human habitation, and not get his perspective forever altered.
Jack McDevitt
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So long as men and women are free, no one is safe. People will be in danger because others can't operate vehicles responsibly or shoot straight. Because physicians are sometimes incompetent and lawyers dishonest. But most of all they will be in danger from ideas. It is the price we willingly pay to be free. Nor would we have it any other way.
Jack McDevitt
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Life is a walk in the fog. Most people don't know that. They're fooled by the sunlight into thinking they can see what's ahead. But it's the reason they are forever getting lost or falling into ditches or committing matrimony.
Jack McDevitt
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Certain types of decisions can be safely ignored. Some issues will go away with the passage of time, others will be so slow developing that the decision-makers will depart before the results of their neglect becomes manifest. Which brings us to the environment.
Jack McDevitt
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Tides are like politics. They come and go with a great deal of fuss and noise, but inevitably they leave the beach just as they found it. On those few occasions when major change does occur, it is rarely a good news.
Jack McDevitt
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Intelligence is like pornography. I can't define it, but I know if when I see it.
Jack McDevitt
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The uplifters are forever running around telling blockheads they would do better if they would believe in themselves. But they already do. That is why they are blockheads.
Jack McDevitt