"There are, of course, risks. In fact, there are three distinct kinds of risk: the known ones which we can and shall prepare against; the known ones which we must trust to luck to avoid; and the entirely unknown."

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More by John Wyndham

“I don't understand women. Nobody does. Least of all themselves.”

“'The wise lamb does not enrage the lion,' he said. 'It placates him, plays for time, and hopes for the best.'”

“'We've got it all there in the books if we take the trouble to find out about it.'”

“'In spite of what they say, two can't live as cheap as one. And wives hanker after certain standards, and ought to have them - within reason, of course.'”

“It takes civilised people quite a while to appreciate 'the big lie' technique.”

“Darling, you're talking as if all normal-length lives were planned. They aren't, you know. People have to learn how to live them—and by the time they find out, they're nearly gone. No time to remedy mistakes.”

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