“Night is irregular. What is not done in the daytime becomes possible at night: murder and sex and thought. Simple men are driven to early beds by tomorrow's daytime demands and by fear of the dark, and never dream of the irregular world outside. And all the while, a viscount and a spaceport baggage boy might be passing the night rolling bok ball in the city park. That's more than unusual -- that is irregular.” NightIrregular Book:The Thurb Revolution Source: The Thurb Revolution
“Population pressure is the ultimate cause of every war.” WarCausesUltimatePressurePopulation Book:Rite of passage Source: Rite of passage
“You can't stamp on people and not get hurt in return.” PeopleHurtReturnStamps Book:Rite of passage Source: Rite of passage
“Some people get a feeling of power from being unpleasant.” PeopleFeelings Book:Rite of passage Source: Rite of passage
“I finished by saying that it struck me that all the ethical systems I was discussing were after the fact. That is, that people act as they are disposed to, but they like to feel afterwards that they were right and so they invent systems that approve of their dispositions.” PeopleFeelsFactsFinishedEthicalDispositionDiscussing Book:Rite of passage Source: Rite of passage
“This is what makes science so hard, and ultimately so fun. Think of the limits of what we know as a great suite of rooms inhabited by vast numbers of incredibly busy, incredibly messy, nearsighted people, all of whom are eccentric recluses.” PeopleThinkingKnowsHardFunRoomsNumbersLimitsBusyMessyEccentricRecluse Author:Alexei Panshin
“If I had the opportunity, I would make the proposal that no man should be killed except by somebody who knows him well enough for the act to have impact. No death should be like nose blowing. Death is important enough that it should affect the person who causes it.” IfsKnowsMenShouldWellsPersonsImportantEnoughOpportunityCausesImpactNosesProposal Book:Rite of passage Source: Rite of passage
“Maturity is the ability to sort the portions of truth from the accepted lies and self-deceptions that you have grown up with.” SelfLyingAbilityAcceptedDeceptionMaturityPortionsSelf Deception Book:Rite of passage Source: Rite of passage
“There is a lesson that I learned at twelve - the world does not end at the edge of a quad. There are people outside. The world does not end on the Fourth Level. There are people elsewhere. It took me two years to learn to apply the lesson - that neither does the world end with the Ship. If you want to accept life, you have to accept the whole bloody universe. The universe is filled with people, and there is not a single solitary spear carrier among them.” PeopleIfsWorldWantYearsDoeTwoEndsWholeUniverseLevelsAcceptingLessonsFilledEdgesShipsTwo YearsTwelveElsewhereFourthSolitaryBloodySpearsCarrierQuads Book:Rite of passage Source: Rite of passage
“Everybody should espouse three or four harmless crank theories for the pure pleasure of having something harmless to be cranky about. And when a theory of this sort proves correct, it is a true moment for celebration.” ShouldMomentsThreePleasureFourTheoryPureProveCelebrationCrankCranky Author:Alexei Panshin
“There's no reason to trade insults. We have our way of life and they have theirs. I wouldn't live as they do, but disrespect seems pointless. I'm sure there are good people among them.” PeopleWayReasonSeemsTradeInsultNo ReasonGood PeoplePointlessDisrespect Book:Rite of passage Source: Rite of passage
“It appears that the ground of being which underlies and sustains us despite our various inadequate and conflicting stories must be extremely tolerant, generous, and forgiving. All things considered, it wouldn't hurt if we were, too.” IfsStoriesHurtAll ThingsForgivingVariousDespiteGenerousInadequate Author:Alexei Panshin