Spider Robinson

“anger is always fear in disguise”

“Mankind is divided into two basic sorts: those who find the unknown future threatening ... and those who find it thrilling. The rupture between those two sides has been responsible for most of the bloodshed in history.”

“If you've lived a bad life, they send you to Hell. But if you've been truly wicked, they give you a tour ofHeaven first...”

“Dreams should be forgotten when we wake. Or one day we will find ourselves unable to sleep.”

“Книги се пишат по най-шашави причини. Някои са написани, за да изплатят ипотека, други — за да спасят света, а трети — просто от нямане какво да се прави. Един от любимите ми анекдоти е за писателя, дето се хванал на бас, че е буквално невъзможно да се напише толкова КОФТИ книга, та да не се намери кой да я издаде. И какво станало по-нататък — писателят взел, че написал най-тъпия и най-шаблонния роман, на който бил способен… И не само успял да го продаде, ами и публиката настояла за над две дузини продължения (Не мога да викажа името на писателя: току-виж наследниците му ме осъдили, а пък не разполагам с документи. Поразпитайте на всяко събиране на фантасти — този анекдот е доста известен.)”

“Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased—thus do we refute entropy." Stated another way: "Just as there are Laws of Conservation of Matter and Energy, so there are in fact Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy. Neither can ever be created or destroyed. But one can be converted into the other.”

“Annie clouded up. For a second, he thought she was going to erupt, and flinched. She saw that...and got control of herself with an visible effort. She took three deep breaths, each longer than the last, and her features became serene.All at once it seemed totally clear to Mike that she was right and he was nuts - that his ingenius theory was nonsense, childish, fantasty bullshit. His conviction evaporated, and he was ashamed. He felt his cheeks grow hot, groped for words with which to backtrack -"I have to admit I have no better explanation for the the facts," Annie said slowly.Again, Mike did an emotional instant 180. "Holy shit -"She held up a hand. "I am going to think now. Very hard, for a long time. You will be as quiet as possible while I do." She got up from the computer, went to the bed, and lay down. "Think yourself, or read, or play games with the headphones on, or go Topside if you like." She clasped her hands on her belly, closed her eyes and appeared to go to sleep”

“Your diet must be about fifty-fifty, carrots and locoweed," Annie said softly.He froze."I can't figure out what in the name of God's labia majora you think you're doing...but I'm impressed by how well you're doing it in the dark. You must have eyes like a cat.”

“Shared sorrow is lessened, shared joy is increased”

“Progress is something with no pity, and no purpose. It just happens. It chews up all you ever knew, and spits out things you can't understand, and the only value it seems to have is to make a few people a lot of money.”

“And there's this place called college! I mean, they want you to care, dig it, care about this education trip, and they don't care enough themselves to make it as attractive as the crap game across the street!”

“The problems of today's youth were no longer a Sunday supplement, or a news broadcast, or anything so remote and intangible. They were suddenly become a dirty, shivering boy, who told us that in this world we had built for him with our sweat and our blood, he was not only tired of living, but so unscared of dying that he did it daily, sometimes for recreation.”

“He smiled like a sun lamp.”

“In 1971, after seven years in college, with that magic piece of paper clutched triumphantly in my fist, the best job I was able to get was night watchman on a sewer project in Babylon, N.Y. guarding a hole in the ground to prevent anyone from stealing it. God bless the American educational system!”

“Well, some men learn by listening, some read, some observe and analyze — and some of us just have to pee on the electric fence.”

“I had not until then fully realized that I was odd, that there was anything strange about growing up with a single-parent genius. I thought all homes had equations scrawled with disc-marker across all the cabinets and walls, and clean laundry in the freezer, and defrosting chicken in the tool drawer. I thought everyone read a book a day and listened to hours of ancient music.”

“Sexual intercourse vests no property rights.”

“...I know good design when I fail to trip over it.”

“there's nothing in the human heart or mind, no place no matter how twisted or secret, that can't be endured - if you have someone to share it with.”

“Just as there are laws of Conservation of Matter and Energy, so there are in fact Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy. Neither can ever be created or destroyed. But one can be converted into the other.”

“We did make use, from time to time, of candles, neckties, scarves, shoelaces, a little water-color paintbrush, her hairbrush, butter, whipped cream, strawberry jam, Johnson’s Baby Oil, my Swedish hand vibrator, a fascinating bead necklace she had, miscellaneous common household items, and every molecule of flesh that was exposed to air or could be located with strenuous search.”

“honesty is hard work.”

“Shared pain is lessened.Shared joy is increased.Thus we refute entropy.”

“Some guys step on a rake in the dark, and get mad and go punch somebody. Others step on a rake in the dark and fall down laughing at themselves. I know which kind of guy I'd rather be. So do my friends.”

“Me, I have a science fiction writer's conviction that the damn robot is supposed to speakhuman, not the other way around.”

“it's better than a stick in the eye”

“This is what it is to be human: to see the essential existential futility of all action, all striving -- and to act, to strive. This is what it is to be human: to reach forever beyond your grasp. This is what it is to be human: to live forever or die trying. This is what it is to be human: to perpetually ask the unanswerable questions, in the hope that the asking of them will somehow hasten the day when they will be answered. This is what it is to be human: to strive in the face of the certainty of failure. This is what it is to be human: to persist.”

“Librarians are the secret masters of the world. They control information. Don't ever piss one off. ”

“Shared joy is increased;Shared pain is lessened.”

“If a person who indulges in gluttony is a glutton, and a person who commits a felony is a felon, then God is an iron.”

“Sometimes I think I must have a Guardian Idiot. A little invisible spirit just behind my shoulder, looking out for me...only he's an imbecile.”

“...one of the secret masters of the world: a librarian. They control information. Don't ever p**s one off.”

“ …when writing, always hook the reader with your first sentence…in love, never settle…value yourself first and this will help you to value others…life is short, so enjoy it to the fullest…everyone in the world is different, and that’s ok…”