Larry Niven

"There is no turning away from knowledge."

"The Perversity of the Universe Tends Toward a Maximum."

"I sometimes wonder why the aristocracy isn't extinct, the lot of you seem so stupid sometimes."

"Yes, the bleeding heart was something else again. A gruesome symbol on a vivarium floor. Fingers that broke without their owner noticing. An ink drawing appearing from nowhere on a dossier cover, like…"

"Do you know what it's like to be suddenly poor and not know how to live poor?"

"Was he deadpan because he didn't care anymore? How much boredom can you meet in three hundred years?"

"What's intelligence for if not for seeking knowledge?"

"The Unexpected always comes at the most awkward times."