"Effective translation of natural languages comes awfully close to requiring a sentient translator program."

Vernor Vinge Literature See all quotes by Vernor Vinge →

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“Peregrine Wickwrackrum was of two minds about evil: when enough rules get broken, sometimes there is good amid the carnage.”

“Sometimes the biggest disasters aren’t noticed at all—no one’s around to write horror stories.”

“All his life he had lived by the law. Often his job had been to stop acts of revenge....And now revenge was all that life had left for him.”

“Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.”

“If there be only hours, at least learn what there is time to learn.”

“The voice was gentle, like a scalpel petting the short hairs of your throat.”

Resonant Thoughts

"The direction in which to look for the patrician is always upwards. This is because his nature is to aspire, to rise always higher—not necessarily to rise above others but to rise above where he himse…"

— R. W. K. Paterson

Philosophy1933

#nature

"Even more! He had a unique talent for languages and did not have to learn any. He never did any courses! When he came back from France, he spoke French. He would quickly learn the language of any coun…"

— Vasyl Slipak

Music1974–2016

#writing

"The present time Latin America is going through, with its impressive natural and human resources, devoid of racial and religious conflicts, is a unique moment, and I believe that Argentina and Argenti…"

— Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

Politics1953

#time

"Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. It's very fortunate if you can work on just one of these in your career. … Apple's been very fortunate in that it's i…"

— Steve Jobs

Business

#change