Айзек Азимов цитаты

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„Если читать Библию внимательно, то убедишься в правоте атеизма.“

„Если врач скажет, что мне осталось жить пять минут, я не буду рвать на себе волосы. Просто я стану печатать на машинке немного быстрее.“

„В отличие от шахмат, в жизни игра продолжается и после мата.“

„Ни одно здравое решение не может быть принято без принятия во внимание не только мира, как он есть, но и мира, каким он будет.“

„Люди на земле должны дружить. Не думаю, что можно заставить всех людей любить друг друга, но я желал бы уничтожить ненависть между людьми.“

„Замечательное чувство — знать, что ты сам строишь мир.“

„Современная теория создания мира согласно Библии звучит так, будто бы ее создатель сидел и пил целую ночь.“

„Имхотеп был первым архитектором. Он предпринял строительство мастабы для Джосера. Это было первое большое каменное сооружение во всем мире.“

„Бюрократия разрастается, чтобы поспеть за потребностями разрастающейся бюрократии.“

„Каждый волен верить, во что он хочет. Я только против того, чтобы заставлять всех верить во что-то одно.“

„Никогда не позволяйте морали удерживать вас от правильных поступков.“

„Я уверен: книгу ничто не заменит в будущем, так же как ничто не могло заменить её в прошлом.“

„Существует так много способов убивать время, что некоторыми приходится жертвовать.“

„Предрассудки обычно правят людьми при отсутствии достоверных знаний.“

„Психиатр приветствует психиатра: «Вы в полном порядке, а я?»“

„Самая волнующая фраза, какую можно услышать в науке, — фраза, возвещающая о новых открытиях, — вовсе не «Эврика!», а «Вот забавно…».“

„Лучше знать, даже если знание очень скоро повлечет за собой гибель, чем обрести вечную жизнь ценой тусклого скотского непонимания вселенной, которая невидимо для нас бурлит во всем своем волшебстве.“

„Существует только один светильник науки, и зажечь его в каком-либо месте — значит зажечь везде.“

„Первое правило диетики: если это вкусно, значит, это вредно для вас.“

„Пытаюсь ли я найти Бога? Бог умнее меня. Пусть попробует найти меня сам.“

„Существует единый свет науки, и зажечь его где-либо означает зажечь его везде.“

„Бессонница — это когда не можешь спать, даже когда уже пора просыпаться.“

„Предположим, что мы достаточно мудры, чтобы узнавать и знать, однако еще недостаточно мудры, чтобы контролировать свой процесс познания и сами знания, а потому используем их себе во вред. Даже если и так, знание все равно лучше, чем невежество.“

„Мух гораздо больше, чем людей.“

„Эй, это не летающая тарелка! Это моя задница!“

„Я думаю, индивидуальность важнее интеллекта.“

“Milton Ashe is not the type to marry a head of hair and a pair of eyes.”

“If you were to insist I was a robot, you might not consider me capable of love in some mystic human sense, but you would not be able to distinguish my reactions from that which you would call love — so what difference would it make?”

“I recognize the necessity of animal experiments with my mind but not with my heart.”

“It was easy to cover up ignorance by the mystical word “intuition.””

“Asimov: Well, I liked Star Wars. I thought Battlestar Galactica was such a close imitation of Star Wars, emphasizing the less attractive portions, that I was a little impatient with it.”

“Titles are an important part of a story and I take considerable care in choosing one. In fact, I cannot start a story until I have chosen a title.”

“Tritt listened placidly, clearly understanding nothing, but content to be listening; while Odeen, transmitting nothing, was as clearly content to be lecturing.”

“Why, Stephen, if I am right, it means that the Machine is conducting our future for us not only simply in direct answer to our direct questions, but in general answer to the world situation and to human psychology as a whole. And to know that may make us unhappy and may hurt our pride. The Machine cannot, must not, make us unhappy.
"Stephen, how do we know what the ultimate good of Humanity will entail? We haven't at our disposal the infinite factors that the Machine has at its! Perhaps, to give you a not unfamiliar example, our entire technical civilization has created more unhappiness and misery than it has removed. Perhaps an agrarian or pastoral civilization, with less culture and less people would be better. If so, the Machines must move in that direction, preferably without telling us, since in our ignorant prejudices we only know that what we are used to, is good—and we would then fight change. Or perhaps a complete urbanization, or a completely caste-ridden society, or complete anarchy, is the answer. We don't know. Only the Machines know, and they are going there and taking us with them."
"But you are telling me, Susan, that the 'Society for Humanity' is right; and that Mankind has lost its own say in its future."
"It never had any, really. It was always at the mercy of economic and sociological forces it did not understand—at the whims of climate, and the fortunes of war. Now the Machines understand them; and no one can stop them, since the Machines will deal with them as they are dealing with the Society,—having, as they do, the greatest of weapons at their disposal, the absolute control of our economy."
"How horrible!”

“Korell is that frequent phenomenon in history: the republic whose ruler has every attribute of the absolute monarch but the name. It therefore enjoyed the usual despotism unrestrained even by those two moderating influences in the legitimate monarchies: regal “honor” and court etiquette.”

“Where any answer is possible, all answers are meaningless.”

“All life is nucleic acid; the rest is commentary”

“There is more to a science fiction story than the science it contains. There is also the story.”

“The military mind remains unparalleled as a vehicle of creative stupidity.”

“Asimov: Science fiction always bases its future visions on changes in the levels of science and technology. And the reason for that consistency is simply that—in reality—all other changes throughout history have been irrelevant and trivial. For example, what difference did it make to the people of the ancient world that Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire? Obviously, that event made some difference to a lot of individuals. But if you look at humanity in general, you'll see that life went on pretty much as it had before the conquest.
On the other hand, consider the changes that were made in people's daily lives by the development of agriculture or the mariner's compass… and by the invention of gunpowder or printing. Better yet, look at recent history and ask yourself, "What difference would it have made if Hitler had won World War II?" Of course, such a victory would have made a great difference to many people. It would have resulted in much horror, anguish, and pain. I myself would probably not have survived.
But Hitler would have died eventually, and the effects of his victory would gradually have washed out and become insignificant—in terms of real change—when compared to such advances as the actual working out of nuclear power, the advent of television, or the invention of the jet plane.”

“Weisinger, a couple of years ago, made up the following story: "Isaac Asimov was asked how Superman could fly faster than the speed of light, which was supposed to be an absolute limit. To this Asimov replied, 'That the speed of light is a limit is a theory; that Superman can travel faster than light is a fact.'"
I assure you it never happened and I never said it, but it will be repeated, I am quite certain, indefinitely, and it will probably be found in Bartlett's quotations a century from now, attributed to me, after all my writings have been forgotten.”

“I believe that only scientists can understand the universe. It is not so much that I have confidence in scientists being right, but that I have so much in nonscientists being wrong.”

“I suppose he’s entitled to his opinion, but I don’t suppose it very hard.”

“I wouldn't give an astrologer the time of day.”

“He is energetic only in evading responsibility.”

“The unwritten motto of United States Robot and Mechanical Men Corp. was well-known: “No employee makes the same mistake twice. He is fired the first time.””

“Just you think first, and don’t bother to speak afterward, either.”

“All mankind, right down to those you most despise, are your neighbors.”

““You’re the U. S. Robot’s psychologist, aren’t you?”
“Robopsychologist, please.”
“Oh, are robots so different from men, mentally?”
“Worlds different.” She allowed herself a frosty smile, “Robots are essentially decent.””

““That was the time to begin all-out preparations for war.”
“On the contrary. That was the time to begin all-out prevention of war.””

“Science is a systematic method for studying and working out those generalizations that seem to describe the behavior of the universe. It could exist as a purely intellectual game that would never affect the practical life of human beings either for good or evil, and that was very nearly the case in ancient Greece, for instance. Technology is the application of scientific findings to the tools of everyday life, and that application can be wise or unwise, useful or harmful. Very often, those who govern technological decisions are not scientists and know little about science.”

“Plowboy: In your opinion, what are mankind's prospects for the near future?
Asimov: To tell the truth, I don't think the odds are very good that we can solve our immediate problems. I think the chances that civilization will survive more than another 30 years—that it will still be flourishing in 2010—are less than 50 percent.
Plowboy: What sort of disaster do you foresee?
Asimov: I imagine that as population continues to increase—and as the available resources decrease—there will be less energy and food, so we'll all enter a stage of scrounging. The average person's only concerns will be where he or she can get the next meal, the next cigarette, the next means of transportation. In such a universal scramble, the Earth will be just plain desolated, because everyone will be striving merely to survive regardless of the cost to the environment. Put it this way: If I have to choose between saving myself and saving a tree, I'm going to choose me.
Terrorism will also become a way of life in a world marked by severe shortages. Finally, some government will be bound to decide that the only way to get what its people need is to destroy another nation and take its goods … by pushing the nuclear button.
And this absolute chaos is going to develop—even if nobody wants nuclear war and even if everybody sincerely wants peace and social justice—if the number of mouths to feed continues to grow. Nothing will be able to stand up against the pressure of the whole of humankind simply trying to stay alive!”

“Knowledge is indivisible. When people grow wise in one direction, they are sure to make it easier for themselves to grow wise in other directions as well. On the other hand, when they split up knowledge, concentrate on their own field, and scorn and ignore other fields, they grow less wise — even in their own field.”

“The facts, gentlemen, and nothing but the facts, for careful eyes are narrowly watching.”

“An atom blaster is a good weapon, but it can point both ways.”