"It would annoy me less that we’re heading into a new puritanical era if the puritanism concerned itself about things that matter."

Poul Anderson Literature See all quotes by Poul Anderson →

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More by Poul Anderson

“Life isn’t a fairy tale; the knight who kills the dragon doesn’t necessarily get the princess. So what? Who’d want to live in a cosmos less rich and various than the real one?”

“On our Earth, we’ve perforce learned all the knavery there is to know.”

“Men, whose span is cruelly short, rush nonetheless to death in their youth as to a maiden’s arms.”

“It was lonely, not even knowing yourself.”

“Heim ignored the mob scene on the 3V, rested his eyes on the cold serenity of the Milky Way and thought that this, at least, would endure.”

“What’s the point of our living all these centuries if we haven’t grown up even a little?”

Resonant Thoughts

"I think that the biggest thing I've learned in terms of pursuing careers is that the things that you're most embarrassed about yourself, the things that you feel like are ugly, the things that you rea…"

— David Harbour

Science1975

#knowledge

"Jarrett would be easier to take if he cared half as much about children’s bodies and minds as he pretends to care about their souls."

— Octavia Butler

Literature1947–2006

#family

"You would have to ask a physicist really but I think understanding fundamental problems in physics is very important because they are part of our culture. You just never know what is going to come fro…"

— Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

Science1952

#knowledge

"A cat would fly at an elephant if it were forced into a corner, but it must be a very small corner into which the Nepalese would be forced before they would fly at British or cease to be their faithfu…"

— Jang Bahadur Rana

Politics1817–1877

#hope