"The work that is truly productive is the domain of a steadily smaller and more elite fraction of humanity."

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

"If you would keep your Secret from an enemy, tell it not to a friend."

— Benjamin Franklin

Politics1812–1878

#Human Nature

"If history has any meaning for us, it shows that men will continue to use the best weapons they have to win. Throughout history, even when men have established leagues to prevent war, they have nevert…"

— Hyman G. Rickover

Military1900–1986

#Human Nature

"In capitalist society individuals are controlled by a pitiless law usually beyond their comprehension. The alienated human specimen is tied to society as a whole by an invisible umbilical cord: the la…"

— Che Guevara

Politics1928–1967

#Human Nature

"We are working tirelessly to make sure our immigrant communities stay vibrant. They are the very fabric of our society, a staple of who we are as a city, as a state, as a nation." Immigration Forum in…"

— Jose Peralta

1855–1937

#Human Nature