James Alan Gardner Quotes

The way past despair and false hope is just letting go. It doesn't improve your odds of survival, but it doesn't waste mental energy.

Deliberate choices are the only sacred things in the universe. Everything else is just hydrogen.

You don’t free yourself from duty by running away. That only increases the weight on your shoulders.

I do not care about the greatest good for the greatest number . . . Most people are poop-heads I do not care about them at all.

Ah, but I am more perceptive than most of the universe. Especially the parts of the universe that are vacuum.

I hated relying on luck. When it worked, it made me feel so damned eerie.

Fate does not invite ugly boring people to save the world; and if you do try to save the world (without being beautiful, strong, clever, or wise), you will soon die pointlessly and how much adventure is there in that?

Some see the glass half full, some see it half empty, and some see it crawling with toxic alien parasites who want to devour your pancreas.

That's the first rule of command; be consistent! You can be sadistic, you can be lazy, you can be stupid, but if you're consistent the crew will still let you sit in when they play dominoes.

Don't be a little paranoid; worry about everything, or let it all go.

Lawyers will always buckle under to something, whether its bribes, violence, court orders, or the weight of their own bullshit.

Having a perilous adventure is always better than comatose safety. Always, always, always, always, always.

Everyone's life is a mess. Everyone's. We all make mistakes . . . and not just little slip-ups. Major mistakes that hurt us and other people.

What kind of programmer is so divorced from reality that she thinks she'll get complex software right the first time?

It is strange how the presence of additional people can make you feel more alone.