“There's something to be said for hunger: at least it lets you know you're still alive.” — Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake
There's also something to be said for the beautiful pairings of words into well-shaped phrases, the meaning of which sparks joy, sadness, wisdom, and deep understanding in our hearts when we read it.
Science fiction plays an important role in forcing us to question the meaning of our day to day lives and the status quo of the world around us.
This week's poll asks for you to think of the quotes that struck fear and wonder, laughter and awe, into your heart when you read it. Add your nomination(s) below and then vote on your favorite(s).
We base our lists on the votes and nominations from this blog and our Facebook Reader group, and we want to hear your opinion!
What are the best quotes/one-liners from a sci-fi BOOK?
"Joe you are very much not going to like this ..... HOLD MY BEER" . Skippy the Magnificent from ex force series by craig alanson*16%, 175 votes
175 votes16%
175 votes - 16% of all votes
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." from "Dune" by Frank Herbert*11%, 124 votes
124 votes11%
124 votes - 11% of all votes
“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” ― Isaac Asimov, Foundation*9%, 99 votes
99 votes9%
99 votes - 9% of all votes
"A generation which ignores history has no past — and no future." - from "Time Enough for Love" by Robert A. Heinlein*7%, 80 votes
80 votes7%
80 votes - 7% of all votes
"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right." – from "Foundation" by Isaac Asimov 7%, 72 votes
72 votes7%
72 votes - 7% of all votes
"Stupid monkeys!" Skippy the Magnificent, from the Ex Force series by Craig Alanson*5%, 50 votes
50 votes5%
50 votes - 5% of all votes
"Who is the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?" -Ben Kenobi (Star Wars IV-A New Hope)*5%, 49 votes
49 votes5%
49 votes - 5% of all votes
"Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so." -. Ford Prefect from " the hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy"*4%, 47 votes
47 votes4%
47 votes - 4% of all votes
“He who controls the spice controls the universe.” - from "Dune" by Frank Herbert 4%, 44 votes
44 votes4%
44 votes - 4% of all votes
"But you're not that smart, I mean your species is responsible for Windows Vista." "Vist- that was a long time ago!" "It's still and insult to computers across the galaxy." - Skippy and Joe - Ex Force series: Craig Alanson*4%, 39 votes
39 votes4%
39 votes - 4% of all votes
“We earth men have a talent for ruining big, beautiful things.” – from "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury 3%, 35 votes
35 votes3%
35 votes - 3% of all votes
“A profound love between two people involves, after all, the power and chance of doing profound hurt.” - from "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin 3%, 33 votes
33 votes3%
33 votes - 3% of all votes
“TANSTAAFL. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” - Robert Heinlein in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress*3%, 27 votes
27 votes3%
27 votes - 3% of all votes
“The only way to win a game that can’t be won is to stop playing.” – from "Dark Space #1" by Jasper T. Scott 2%, 26 votes
26 votes2%
26 votes - 2% of all votes
“Humans," said the puppeteer, "should not be allowed to run loose. You will surely harm yourselves.”*2%, 25 votes
25 votes2%
25 votes - 2% of all votes
"Every passing hour brings the Solar System forty three thousand miles closer to Globular Cluster M13 in Hercules — and still there are some misfits who insist that there is no such thing as progress." - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.*2%, 24 votes
24 votes2%
24 votes - 2% of all votes
The sky above the port was the colour of television - tuned to a dead channel*2%, 21 vote
21 vote2%
21 vote - 2% of all votes
"The street finds its own uses for things." -- William Gibson*2%, 21 vote
21 vote2%
21 vote - 2% of all votes
"They dive so humanity survives." - from "Hell Divers" by Nicholas Sansbury Smith 1%, 15 votes
15 votes1%
15 votes - 1% of all votes
One of the major difficulties Trillian experienced in her relationshipwith Zaphod was learning to distinguish between him pretending to bestupid just to get people off their guard, pretending to be stupidbecause he couldn't be bothered to think and wanted someone else to doit for him, pretending to be outrageously stupid to hide the fact thathe actually didn't understand what was going on, and really beinggenuinely stupid. "The hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams*1%, 11 votes
11 votes1%
11 votes - 1% of all votes
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." - George Orwell, 1984*1%, 9 votes
9 votes1%
9 votes - 1% of all votes
“Two thousand million or so years ago two galaxies were colliding; or, rather, were passing through each other.” -- E.E.. "Doc Smith, the Lensman Series*1%, 8 votes
8 votes1%
8 votes - 1% of all votes
“Instead, pay it forward to some other brother who needs it.” Robert Heinlein, "Between Planets"*1%, 7 votes
7 votes1%
7 votes - 1% of all votes
"Kill them first" - Nick Cole & Jason Anspach (Galaxy's Edge Series)*1%, 6 votes
6 votes1%
6 votes - 1% of all votes
"Functionally speaking, evrything is pretty much the same no matter what universe you're in." -- John Scalzi (Old Man's War)*1%, 6 votes
6 votes1%
6 votes - 1% of all votes
"Trapped in that bright moment when you learned your doom" from The Towers of Toron, Samuel R Delany*1%, 6 votes
6 votes1%
6 votes - 1% of all votes
"Defeating one’s archnemesis is a joy everyone should experience on a regular basis.” - from Casmir Dabrowski "Robots & Roommates" (Star Kingdom series by Lindsay Buroker) 0%, 5 votes
5 votes
5 votes - 0% of all votes
Feet, for tens of thousands of years, had clogged and shuffled in the mud – and held down the minds which, for an equal time, had been fit for the companionship of the stars. Isaac Asimov, Second Foundation (Foundation #3)*0%, 4 votes
4 votes
4 votes - 0% of all votes
"If your heart beats like a drum and your leg's a little wet, it's 'cause the Reaper's come to collect a little debt" by Sevro Au Barca (Red rising series)*0%, 3 votes
3 votes
3 votes - 0% of all votes
Dune- fear*0%, 3 votes
3 votes
3 votes - 0% of all votes
“If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you'll never learn.” ― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451*0%, 2 votes
2 votes
2 votes - 0% of all votes
"Here was a race that would rule the Sevagram!" - The Weapon Makers, A.E. Van Vogt*0%, 1 vote
1 vote
1 vote - 0% of all votes
"'Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." Stranger in a Strange Land, Heinlein*0%, 1 vote
1 vote
1 vote - 0% of all votes
"People on planets have to worry about that all the time. They have to put something strong between themselves and the center of the planet, or they'll go down." -from "Lollipop and the Tar Baby" by John Varley*0%, 1 vote
1 vote
1 vote - 0% of all votes
"Gavin Stark didn't leave loose ends." – from "Even Legends Die" by Jay Allan 0%, 1 vote
1 vote
1 vote - 0% of all votes
Total Votes: 1080
Voters: 567
September 5, 2019
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https://discoverscifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/One-Liners.jpg6801200Discover Sci-Fihttps://discoverscifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/discover-scifi.pngDiscover Sci-Fi2019-09-05 09:07:162019-09-13 12:19:55What are the best one-liners from sci-fi books?
19replies
Deborah Stovall says:
“We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?” (Fahrenheit 451)
“We are here to inscribe ourselves on the universe, and it is not inappropriate to remind ourselves of this when blank slates are given us.” 2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson
Some prices are just too high, no matter how much you may want the prize. The one thing you can’t trade for your heart’s desire is your heart. Lois McMaster Bujold, Memory (Vorkosigan Saga, #10)
reat tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and something worse, more irrevocable, than misfortune. Lois McMaster Bujold, Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1)
Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards. Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign (Vorkosigan Saga, #12)
The really unforgivable acts are committed by calm men in beautiful green silk rooms, who deal death wholesale, by the shipload, without lust, or anger, or desire, or any redeeming emotion to excuse them but cold fear of some pretended future. But the crimes they hope to prevent in that future are imaginary. The ones they commit in the present — they are real. Lois McMaster Bujold, Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1)
Since no one is perfect, it follows that all great deeds have been accomplished out of imperfection. Yet they were accomplished, somehow, all the same. Lois McMaster Bujold, Mirror Dance (Vorkosigan Saga, #8)
I am who I choose to be. I have always been what I chose, though not always what I pleased. Lois McMaster Bujold, Memory (Vorkosigan Saga, #10)
“Free of name and purpose, what do I gain? I have logic and laughter, but can trust neither my eyes nor my hands. The tenebrous city, city without time, the generous, saprophytic city: it is morning, and I miss the clear night.” Samuel R. Delaney, Dhalgren.
“We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?” (Fahrenheit 451)
Love the quote, except it is from real life . quote is from Sgt Dan Dailey a U S Marine during WWI. And was really similar to a quote from Frederick the Great.
[…] As always, these top ten lists are not meant to be all-inclusive or definitive, but give a great finger on the pulse of our communities interests and favorites. Want to see who missed out? Here's the original nomination list from the blog. […]
“We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?” (Fahrenheit 451)
“Ignorance can’t be pardoned. Only cured.” Robert Silverberg, Up The Line
“42”
The answer to the question of the life the universe and everything from hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
Yeah. I forgot that one. 42 😉
“We are here to inscribe ourselves on the universe, and it is not inappropriate to remind ourselves of this when blank slates are given us.” 2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson
…do you want to live forever?
Robert Heinlein
Starship Troopers
What would Roy Merritt do? – Daniel Suarez. Freedom(TM)
Some prices are just too high, no matter how much you may want the prize. The one thing you can’t trade for your heart’s desire is your heart.
Lois McMaster Bujold, Memory (Vorkosigan Saga, #10)
reat tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and something worse, more irrevocable, than misfortune.
Lois McMaster Bujold, Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1)
Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards.
Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign (Vorkosigan Saga, #12)
The really unforgivable acts are committed by calm men in beautiful green silk rooms, who deal death wholesale, by the shipload, without lust, or anger, or desire, or any redeeming emotion to excuse them but cold fear of some pretended future. But the crimes they hope to prevent in that future are imaginary. The ones they commit in the present — they are real.
Lois McMaster Bujold, Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1)
Since no one is perfect, it follows that all great deeds have been accomplished out of imperfection. Yet they were accomplished, somehow, all the same.
Lois McMaster Bujold, Mirror Dance (Vorkosigan Saga, #8)
I am who I choose to be. I have always been what I chose, though not always what I pleased.
Lois McMaster Bujold, Memory (Vorkosigan Saga, #10)
I could keep going, but there’s too many.
Great choices, Bujold really can pen an unforgettable one liner.
“Free of name and purpose, what do I gain? I have logic and laughter, but can trust neither my eyes nor my hands. The tenebrous city, city without time, the generous, saprophytic city: it is morning, and I miss the clear night.” Samuel R. Delaney, Dhalgren.
Shall I tell you what I find beautiful about you (humans)…. you are at your best when things are worst
“It’s amazing how much ‘mature wisdom’ resembles being too tired”.
from The Notebooks Of Lazarus Long..
Woodrow Wilson Smith (aka Robert A. Heinlein)
What’s the point of being an adult, if you can’t act like a child now and then? Dr Who
This should win number 1 quote!
“We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?” (Fahrenheit 451)
Love the quote, except it is from real life
. quote is from Sgt Dan Dailey a U S Marine during WWI. And was really similar to a quote from Frederick the Great.
Thanks for letting me know. I feel really silly for not knowing the original source.