Quotes by Jack Vance

“If the past is a house of many chambers, then the present is the most recent coat of paint.”

“I still feel that we should act with restraint. It’s much easier not to do than to undo.”

“When self-willed microunits combine to form and sustain a durable macrounit, certain freedoms of action are curtailed.This is the basic process of Organization.The more numerous and erratic the mic...”

“Organization: smooth and relentless; Organization: massive and inert, tolerant of the submissive, serenely cruel to the unbeliever…”

“Here’s some miscellaneous information. First, wear what you like. Personally I dislike uniforms. I never have worn a uniform. Secondly, if you have a religion, keep it to yourself. I dislike religi...”

“Now, as to the persistence of superstition, only an impoverished mind considers itself the repository of absolute knowledge.”

“I’d rather be a live pessimist than a dead comedian.”

“I’m not sure. There’s not much I can do. Unless— he hesitated.Unless what?Unless I make an underwater survey myself.Damon was appalled. What do you hope to gain by that?Fletcher smiled. If I knew, ...”

“Mystery is a word with no objective pertinence, merely describing the limitations of a mind. In fact, a mind may be classified by the order of the phenomena it considers mysterious.… The mystery is...”

“That’s the city hall, he said. The Mayor lives upstairs, where he can, ha ha, guard the city funds.”

“My brain, otherwise a sound instrument, has a serious defect—a hypertrophied lobe of curiosity.”

“Banish Evil from the world? Nonsense! Encourage it, foster it, sponsor it. The world owes Evil a debt beyond imagination. Think! Without greed ambition falters. Without vanity art becomes idle musi...”

“The big man’s scowl deepened. You’re not what I expected.Intelligence, facility, resourcefulness are not like neckties, to be displayed as ornaments, Magnus Ridolph pointed out.”

“I have heard your name mentioned.Probably as a high-flying free-wheeling financial hell-raiser.I believe the term ‘unscrupulous blackguard’ was used, said Ridolph.”

“The ancient tale, thought Burke: barbarism triumphant over civilization.”

“Are they material?They exist; therefore they are material. Is this not a universal truth?”

“We suspect that telepathy occurs instantaneously, if no faster—How could anything be faster than instantaneously? Margaret inquired.It could arrive before it started. In which case it’s called prec...”

“The Iszics seem to have small understanding of intellectual curiosity, observed Farr.To compensate, we have a large understanding of rapacity, larceny, brain-picking and exploitation.”

“Ridiculous situation, he told himself in half-humorous self-contempt. Six months ago I could think of nothing but travel to strange planets; now all I want is to go home to Earth.”