Quotessence
Home / Authors / Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow Quotes

Blogger

Filter quotes by topic

AllIfsWorldPeopleTechnologyHardKnowsStuffThinkingBookGiving

Famous Cory Doctorow Quotes

“Everyone wants a definition of creativity that makes what they do into something special and what everyone else does into nothing special. But the fact is, we're all creative. We come up with weird and interesting ideas all the time. The biggest difference between 'creators' isn't their imagination - it's how hard they work. Ideas are easy. Doing stuff is hard.”

WantDoeIdeasHardFactsEasyStuffImaginationDifferencesInterestingCreativityCreativeSpecialDefinitionsCome UpCreatorSomething SpecialInteresting Ideas
Book:Pirate Cinema
Create image

“If the best way to learn to succeed is to fail as fast as possible, then the second-best way is to watch someone else fail as fast as possible. Watching someone else screw up is a kind of rehearsal for your own eventual downfall. A close observation of someone else's attempt to resolve a difficulty is a great way to acquire real-world insight into whether and when to deploy their method in your own times of trouble.”

IfsWorldWayKindRealWatchesFailingTroubleSucceedDifficultyMethodInsightBest WayObservationAcquireResolveReal WorldScrewsRehearsalDownfallScrew UpsSecond BestTimes Of Trouble
Author:Cory Doctorow
Create image

“I'm 17 years old. I'm not a straight-A student or anything. Even so, I figured out how to make an Internet that they can't wiretap. I figured out how to jam their person-tracking technology. I can turn innocent people into suspects and turn guilty people into innocents in their eyes. I could get metal onto an airplane or beat a no-fly list. I figured this stuff out by looking at the web and by thinking about it. If I can do it, terrorists can do it. They told us they took away our freedom to make us safe. Do you feel safe?”

PeopleIfsThinkingFeelsYearsPersonsI CanEyeTurnsStuffCan DoTechnologyStudentsInternetSafeBeatsListsTerroristInnocentGuiltySuspectsMetalsAirplaneJamI Can Do ItTracking
Author:Cory Doctorow
Create image

“The opposite of esprit d'escalier is the way that life's embarrassments come back to haunt us even after they're long past. I could remember every stupid thing I'd ever said or done, recall them with picture-perfect clarity. Any time I was feeling low, I'd naturally start to remember other times I felt that way, a hit parade of humiliations coming one after another to my mind.”

WayMindLongSaidDoneFeelingsPastRememberFeltPerfectStupidLowsOppositesClarityRecallsHumiliationEmbarrassmentParadesStupid ThingsFeeling LowPicture Perfect
Book:Little Brother
Create image

“I fireballed him as he was seeking out treasure after we wiped out a band of orcs, playing rock-paper-scissors with each orc to determine who would prevail in combat. This is a lot more exciting than it sounds. It's quite civilized, and a little weird. You go running after someone through the woods, catch up with him, bare your teeth, and sit down to play a little roshambo.”

LittlesPlayRunningSoundRocksBandPaperExcitingDetermineSeekingWoodsTreasureTeethCivilizedCombatScissorsOrcs
Author:Cory Doctorow
Create image

“The United States of America was a pirate nation for the first one hundred years of its existence, ripping off the patents and trademarks of the imperial European powers it had liberated itself from by blood. By keeping their GDP at home, the U.S. revolutionaries were able to bootstrap their nation into an industrial powerhouse. Now, it seems, their descendants are bent on ensuring that no other country can pull the same trick off.”

YearsFirstsCountryStatesHomeSeemsAbleAmericaNationsUnitedExistenceUnited StatesBloodHundredTricksRevolutionaryOther CountriesUnited States Of AmericaBentLiberatedPirateDescendantsPatentsGdpTrademarksBootstraps
Author:Cory Doctorow
Create image

“The good news (for writers) is that this means that ebooks on computers are more likely to be an enticement to buy the printed book (which is, after all, cheap, easily had, and easy to use) than a substitute for it. You can probably read just enough of the book off the screen to realize you want to be reading it on paper.”

WantMeanBookEnoughUseReadingEasyRealizingPaperComputerNewsScreensSubstitutesGood NewsPrintedEnticementPrinted Books
Author:Cory Doctorow
Create image