Top 25 Quotes by Poul Anderson of 33 - Page 2

A fanatic's willingness to kill or be killed in the service of a cause cannot prove the rightness of that cause.

A fanatic's willingness to kill or be killed in the service of a cause cannot prove the rightness of that cause.

Peace, War, Causes

Two lives met across death and centuries. To ask what it meant is meaningless. There is no destiny. But sometimes there is bravery

Poul Anderson

Destiny, Two, Bravery

Poul Anderson (2015). “The Stars Are Also Fire”, p.10, Open Road Media

It is a truism that the structure of a society is basically determined by its technology. Not in an absolute sense-there may be totally different cultures using identical tools-but the tools settle the possibilities; you can't have interstellar trade without spaceships. A race limited to a single planet, possessing a high knowledge of mechanics but with its basic machines of industry and war requiring a large capital investment, will inevitably tend toward collectivism under one name or another. Free enterprise needs elbow room.

Poul Anderson

War, Technology, Names

Poul Anderson (2011). “Trader to the Stars: Polesotechnic League”, p.26, Hachette UK

I wrote the first book, Harvest of Stars, and as I was writing it, I saw that certain implications had barely been touched on... It's perfectly obvious that two completely revolutionary things are going on, with cybernetics, and biological science.

Poul Anderson

Stars, Book, Writing

"Poul Anderson: Fifty Years of Science Fiction", www.locusmag.com. April 1997.

My knowledge of the human psyche is as yet imperfect. Certain areas won't yield to computation.

Poul Anderson

Yield, Statistics, Imperfect

Poul Anderson (2003). “Going For Infinity: A Literary Journey”, p.525, Macmillan

You know what they say about bold spacemen never becoming old spacemen.

Poul Anderson

Becoming, Knows

"Garden in the Void" by Poul Anderson, 1952.

In Harvest of Stars, there is this notion, not original with me of course, that it will become possible to download at least the basic aspects of a human personality into a machine program.

Poul Anderson

Stars, Personality, Machines

"Poul Anderson: Fifty Years of Science Fiction", www.locusmag.com. April 1997.