Author: Robert Sawyer

Cites

• Beilby Porteus (1)
  • IN: Flashforward (1999) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: He who foresees calamities suffers them twice over.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, UK
• Thomas D Jericho, Ph.D. (1)
  • IN: Calculating God (2000) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: COMPLETE FOSSIL SKELETONS ARE RARELY FOUND. IT IS PERMISSIBLE TO FILL IN MISSING PIECES USING THE RECONSTRUCTIONIST’S BEST GUESSES, BUT, EXCEPT FOR DISPLAY MOUNTS, ONE MUST CLEARLY DISTINGUISH THOSE PARTS THAT ARE ACTUAL FOSSILIZED MATERIAL FROM THOSE THAT ARE CONJECTURE. ONLY THE AUTHENTIC FOSSILS ARE TRUE FIRST-PERSON TESTIMONY OF THE PAST; IN CONTRAST, THE RECONSTRUCTIONIST’S CONTRIBUTIONS ARE SOMETHING AKIN TO THIRD-PERSON NARRATIO
    FROM: Thomas D. Jericho, Ph.D., in his introduction to Handbook of Paleontological Restoration (Danilova and Tamasaki, editors), (2000), Fictional, NULL
• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1)
  • IN: Humans (2003) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?
    FROM: The Gulag Archipelago, (1973), Book, Russia
• Charles Darwin (1)
  • IN: Hybrids (2003) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: The belief in God has often been advanced as not only the greatest, but the most complete of all the distinctions between man and the lower animals.
    FROM: The Descent of Man, (1871), Book, UK
• Carel Kapek (1)
  • IN: Hybrids (2003) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: And let me tell you, God is not so infinite as the Catholics assert. He is about six hundred meters in diameter, and even then is weak towards the edges.
    FROM: The Absolute at Large, (1922), Novel, Czech Republic
• John Galsworthy (1)
  • IN: Hybrids (2003) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Mankind was still divided into two species: The few who had “speculation” in their souls, and the many who had none, with a belt of hybrids in the middle.
    FROM: To Let, (1921), Novel, UK
• Thomas Hewitt Key (1)
  • IN: Factoring Humanity (1998) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mind.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, UK
• Briz-Tolharb (1)
  • IN: Foreigner (1994) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Historically, there have been three great blows to the Quintaglio ego. First, Afsan delivered the cosmological blow by taking God out of our skies and moving us from the center of the universe to one of its countless backwaters. Then, Toroca dealt us the biological blow, showing that we were not divinely created from the hands of God but rather had evolved through natural processes from other animals. And, finally, Mokleb administered the psychological blow, proving that we were not rational beings acting on lofty principles but are in fact driven by the dark forces that control our subconscious minds.
    FROM: Briz-Tolharb, Curator, (1994), Fictional, NULL
• Samuel Butler (1)
  • IN: Illegal Alien (1997) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: For Justice, though she’s painted blind, is to the weaker side inclined.
    FROM: Hudibras, (1684), Poem, UK
• Jonathan Swift (1)
  • IN: Rollback (2007) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: No wise man ever wished to be younger.
    FROM: Thoughts on Various Subjects from Miscellanies, (1706), Essay, Ireland
• Leroy "Satchel" Paige (1)
  • IN: Rollback (2007) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, US
• Martin Luther Jr. King (1)
  • IN: Starplex (1996) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Even though the arc of the moral universe is long, it bends toward justice.
    FROM: NULL, (1958), NULL, US
• André Gide (1)
  • IN: Frameshift (1997) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
    FROM: Andre Gide, winner of the 1947 Nobel Prize in literature, (1947), NULL, France
• Jaron Lanier (1)
  • IN: Mindscan (2005) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: We cannot expect to have certain, universal agreement on any question of personhood, but we all are forced to hold an answer in our hearts and act upon our best guess.
    FROM: The Journal of Consciousness Studies (Agents of Alienation), (1995), Article, US
• Bible (1)
  • IN: The Hand You're Dealt (1997) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
    FROM: Bible, John 8:32, (100), Bible, NULL
• Dag Hammarskjold (1905-1961) United Nations Secretary General (1)
  • IN: The Terminal Experiment (1995) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: In the last analysis, it is our conception of death which decides our answers to all the questions life puts to us.
    FROM: Markings, (1963), Book, Sweden
• Helen Keller (1)
  • IN: Wake (2009) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Big breakthroughs seldom come quickly or easily — or in the form that might be expected. What a blind person needs is not a teacher but another self.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, US
• Jimmy Wales (1)
  • IN: Watch (2010) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: I read that one company is importing all of Wikipedia into its artificial-intelligence projects. This means when the killer robots come, you’ll have me to thank. At least they’ll have a fine knowledge of Elizabethan poetry.
    FROM: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, (2007), Interview, US
• Mahatma Gandhi (1)
  • IN: Watch (2010) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, India
• Sergey Brin (1)
  • IN: Wonder (2011) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: The perfect search engine would be like the mind of God.
    FROM: Sergey Brin, Cofounder of Google, (2005), Interview, US
• NULL (3)
  • IN: Golden Fleece (1990) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO GO INTO SPACE! THE UNITED NATIONS SPACE AGENCY REQUIRES PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE FOR FIRST EXTRASOLAR PLANETARY SURVEY We require 10,000 people to form the crew of Argo, first in UNSA’s Starcology (space-traveling arcology) series of Bussard-ramjet starships. Starcology Argo will conduct a complete survey of Eta Cephei IV (“Colchis”), a verdant, Earthlike world 47 light-years distant. True to the Starcology community-in-space idea, we will consider workers in all realms of human endeavor. Applicants must be under 30 years of age and in good general health. [R]eply to this posting and an application will be downloaded to your terminal.
    FROM: NULL, (1990), Fictional, NULL
  • IN: Red Planet Blues (2013) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: There are strange things done ’neath the Martian sun By those who seek the mother lode; The ruddy trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold; The twin moonlights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night on the shore of a lake of yore I terminated a transferee.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, NULL
  • IN: Triggers (2012) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: E pluribus unum Out of many, one
    FROM: NULL, (1782), [NA], US
• H. G. Wells (1)
  • IN: On the Surface (None) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: For once, at least, I grasped the mental operations of the Morlocks. Suppressing a strong inclination to laugh I stepped through the bronze frame and up to the Time Machine. I was surprised to find it had been carefully oiled and cleaned. I have suspected since that the Morlocks had even partially taken it to pieces while trying in their dim way to grasp its purpose.
    FROM: The Time Machine, (1895), Novel, UK
• Janis Ian (1)
  • IN: Immortality (None) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: Baby, I’m only society’s child When we’re older, things may change But for now this is the way they must remain—
    FROM: Society's Child, (1965), Song, US
• David Chalmers (1)
  • IN: Quantum Night (2016) Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction, American
    EPIGRAPH: It may be a requirement for a theory of consciousness that it contains at least one crazy idea.
    FROM: Much Ado About Consciousness: An Interview with David Chalmers, (1998), Interview, US