Larry Niven Quotes

Quotes about:

• The reader has certain rights. He bought your story. Think of this as an implicit contract. He's entitled to be entertained, instructed, amused; maybe all three. If he quits in the middle, or puts the book down feeling his time has been wasted, you're in violation.

  Larry Niven

  Book, Writing, Thinking

  50 Copy quote

• Ethics change with technology.

  Larry Niven

  Technology, Ethics

  "Niven's Laws". larryniven.net. 2002.

  41 Copy quote

• Half of wisdom is learning what to unlearn.

  Larry Niven

  Half, Unlearn

  "The Ringworld Throne". Book by Larry Niven, 1996.

  8 Copy quote

• Everything starts as somebody's daydream.

  Larry Niven

  Love, Dream, Dreamer

  Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven, Michael Flynn (2002). “Fallen Angels”, p.153, Baen Publishing Enterprises

  17 Copy quote

• The Gods do not protect fools. Fools are protected by more capable fools.

  Larry Niven

  Fool, Protect, Capable

  "Ringworld" by Larry Niven, Del Rey Mass Market Paperback, (p. 96), 1970.

  11 Copy quote

• In hindsight it may even seem inevitable that a socialist society will starve when it runs out of capitalists.

  Larry Niven

  Running, May, Hindsight

  Larry Niven (2010). “Stars and Gods”, p.363, Macmillan

  15 Copy quote

• The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program.

  Larry Niven

  Space, Insightful, Dinosaurs

  "A Conversation With Arthur C. Clarke; An Author's Space Odyssey and His Stay at the Chelsea". www.nytimes.com. Ooctober 26, 1999.

  8 Copy quote

• There is a technical, literary term for those who mistake the opinions and beliefs of characters in a novel for those of the author. The term is 'idiot'.

  Larry Niven

  Mistake, Character, Belief

  7 Copy quote

• Anything you don't understand is dangerous until you do understand it.

  Larry Niven

  Dangerous

  "Flatlander" by Larry Niven, 1967.

  6 Copy quote

• In the world of words the imagination is one of the forces of nature.

  Larry Niven

  Writing, Creating, Imagination

  Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven, Michael Flynn (2002). “Fallen Angels”, p.193, Baen Publishing Enterprises

  16 Copy quote

• There is no cause so good or noble that it will not attract fuggheads; and the fuggheads will get all the press.

  Larry Niven

  Political, Noble, Politics

  9 Copy quote

• Intelligence is just a tool to be used toward a goal, and goals are not always chosen intelligently.

  Larry Niven

  Goal, Tools, Used

  10 Copy quote

• That's the thing about people who think they hate computers. What they really hate is lousy programmers.

  Larry Niven

  Hate, Technology, Thinking

  7 Copy quote

• Sometimes there's no point in giving up.

  Larry Niven

  Giving Up, Giving, Sometimes

  "The Ringworld Engineers". Book by Larry Niven, 1980.

  7 Copy quote

• The Unexpected always comes at the most awkward times.

  Larry Niven

  Awkward, Unexpected

  Larry Niven (2003). “Scatterbrain”, p.35, Macmillan

  6 Copy quote

• You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.

  Larry Niven

  Writing, Stories, Story Writers

  14 Copy quote

• We learn only to ask more questions.

  Larry Niven

  Asks

  Larry Niven (1984). “Ringworld Engineers”, Del Rey

  12 Copy quote

• There were timelines branching and branching, a mega-universe of universes, millions more every minute. Billions? Trillions? The universe split every time someone made a decision. Split, so that every decision ever made could go both ways. Every choice made by every man, woman, and child was reversed in the universe next door.

  Larry Niven

  Children, Men, Choices Made

  16 Copy quote

• There had been a popular joke on Freedom, started by a man named Calder. Looking down from space, he had said, the dominant life forms on Earth were obviously the cereals and other grasses. They occupied all the most desirable and fertile land; and they had tamed insects and animals to care for them. In particular, they had domesticated the bipeds to nurture and cultivate them and to save and plant their seed. Now, watching the farmers, Alex could easily imagine that they were worshiping and genuflecting before their masters.

  Larry Niven

  Men, Animal, Space

  Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven, Michael Flynn (2002). “Fallen Angels”, p.232, Baen Publishing Enterprises

  4 Copy quote

• Fear is the brother of hate.

  Larry Niven

  Brother, Fear, Hate

  "Ringworld". Book by Larry Niven, 1970.

  8 Copy quote

• One mark of a good officer, he remembered, was the ability to make quick decisions. If they happen to be right, so much the better.

  Larry Niven

  Decision, Leader, Mark

  "Ringworld". Book by Larry Niven, 1970.

  10 Copy quote

• Never fire a laser at a mirror.

  Larry Niven

  Fire, Mirrors, Lasers

  Larry Niven (1984). “Niven's Laws”, Owlswick Press

  6 Copy quote

• It's very difficult for a black man to get out of South-Central Los Angeles, and get out civilized....The only men I know who have escaped, all began reading Robert Heinlein at age ten.

  Larry Niven

  Reading, Men, Black

  11 Copy quote

• The perversity of the Universe tends towards a maximum.

  Larry Niven

  Maximum, Perversity, Universe

  "Ringworld". Book by Larry Niven (p. 142), 1970.

  5 Copy quote

• For each human being there is an optimum ratio between change and stasis. Too little change, he grows bored. Too little stability, he panics and loses his ability to adapt. One who marries six times in ten years won't change jobs. One who moves often to serve his company will maintain a stable marriage. A woman chained to one home and family may redecorate frantically or take a lover or go to many costume parties.

  Larry Niven

  Jobs, Party, Moving

  Larry Niven, John Brunner, Jack Vance (1973). “Three trips in time and space: original novellas of science fiction”

  6 Copy quote

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