Quote lists can be interesting, until you realize that most of the quotes do not include their source. As a result, you might not be able to find the work which contains a quote about which you might be interested in reading more. It's a refined sort of torture: here's something you might like, but we won't tell you where we found it.
For instance, one of the quotes on that list was: "Humans suffer from self-centred notions as to the nature of life. Humans assume that alien life forms should conform to standards that match our own, including logic and morality. Even among humans, morality is ignored when expedient. Why should we expect more from an alien life form than we demand from ourselves?"
An interesting idea, yes, but from where? Was it a book? If it's a novel I haven't read before, it sounds like something I might like to read: about humans and aliens and the assumptions people make. Or was it this blog? Or is it from an essay on writing about aliens? Or did someone write it down at a science fiction convention and we'll never be able to find the rest of the thoughts behind it? It's the kind of thing that can drive certain people ... mad.
Quote lists can be interesting, until you realize that most of the quotes do not include their source. As a result, you might not be able to find the work which contains a quote about which you might be interested in reading more. It's a refined sort of torture: here's something you might like, but we won't tell you where we found it.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, one of the quotes on that list was: "Humans suffer from self-centred notions as to the nature of life. Humans assume that alien life forms should conform to standards that match our own, including logic and morality. Even among humans, morality is ignored when expedient. Why should we expect more from an alien life form than we demand from ourselves?"
An interesting idea, yes, but from where? Was it a book? If it's a novel I haven't read before, it sounds like something I might like to read: about humans and aliens and the assumptions people make. Or was it this blog? Or is it from an essay on writing about aliens? Or did someone write it down at a science fiction convention and we'll never be able to find the rest of the thoughts behind it? It's the kind of thing that can drive certain people ... mad.
~ Mad Jamey
Yep. I don't remember writing that at all, much less which book it was in.
ReplyDeleteAfter fifty or sixty, they tend to run together.
The quote about doing an enemy harm, that I recall ---- I put into a front quote, but it's not mine -- Machiavelli said that.