Jack McDevitt Quotes

On this page you can find the TOP of Jack McDevitt's best quotes! We hope you will find some sayings from Author Jack McDevitt's in our collection, which will inspire you to new achievements! There are currently 62 quotes on this page collected since April 14, 1935! Share our collection of quotes with your friends on social media so that they can find something to inspire them!
All quotes by Jack McDevitt: Decisions Evidence Running School more...
  • We could never know who we truly were until we heard the whispers of the stars.

  • Tides are like politics. They come and go with a great deal of fuss and noise, but inevitably they leave the beach just as they found it. On those few occasions when major change does occur, it is rarely a good news.

    "Deepsix". Book by Jack McDevitt, September 2000.
  • Boundaries have no existence save on charts or in small minds. Nature does not draw lines.

    Jack McDevitt (2013). “A Talent for War (Alex Benedict - Book 1): Alex Benedict -”, p.331, Hachette UK
  • ... the truth is that when your people don't tell you what you need to know, it's a failure of leadership.

    Jack McDevitt (2007). “Cauldron”, p.70, Penguin
  • Talking with most people usually involves a search for truth. Talking with congressmen is strictly special effects.

    "Odyssey". Book by Jack McDevitt, 2006.
  • Throughout our long and sorry history it has been men who supposed themselves to be exemplars of integrity who have done all the damage. Every crusade, whether for decent literary standards or to cover women's bodies or to free the holy land, had been launched, endorsed, and enthusiastically perpetrated by men of character.

    "Deepsix". Book by Jack McDevitt, 2001.
  • It is not faith per se that creates the problem; it is conviction, the notion that one cannot be wrong, that opposing views are necessarily invalid and may even be intolerable.

    "Odyssey". Book by Jack McDevitt, 2006.
  • Katie commented that Americans had lost the ability to enjoy themselves. "We watch television," Dave said.

    "Time Travelers Never Die". Book by Jack McDevitt, 2009.
  • The cultures we can look at had already grasped the essential unity of nature. No board of gods can survive that knowledge.

    Jack McDevitt (1995). “The Engines of God”, p.99, Penguin
  • Courage is perhaps our most admirable trait. The man, or woman, who possesses it is able to plunge ahead, despite dangers, despite warnings, despite hazards of all kinds, to attack the task at hand. Often, it is indistinguishable from stupidity.

    Men   Hands   Stupidity  
    Jack McDevitt (2013). “Odyssey (Academy - Book 5): Academy -”, p.251, Hachette UK
  • Show me what a people admire, and I will tell you everything about them that matters.

    "The Engines of God". Book by Jack McDevitt, 1994.
  • All of the important things ... will turn out to be universally shared. It's why there will be no true aliens.

    Jack McDevitt (1995). “The Engines of God”, p.99, Penguin
  • So long as you believe in some truth you do not believe in yourself. You are a servant. A man of faith.

    Men  
    Jack McDevitt (2003). “Chindi”, p.225, Penguin
  • Solitude is only a good idea if you have the right people along to share it.

  • What would happen is that people like Geroge and Alyx would grow old and die chasing a dream. Although there were probably worse things to do with one's life.

    Jack McDevitt (2003). “Chindi”, p.236, Penguin
  • The measure of a civilization is in the courage, not of its soldiers, but of its bystanders.

    Jack McDevitt (2004). “A Talent For War”, p.194, Penguin
  • Most of us sleepwalk through our lives. We take all its glories, its wine, food, love, and friendship, its sunsets and its stars, its poetry and fireplaces and laughter, for granted. We forget that experience is not, or should not be, a casual encounter, but rather an embrace. Consequently, for too many of us, when we come to the end, we wonder where the years have gone. And we suspect we have not lived.

  • The uplifters are forever running around telling blockheads they would do better if they would believe in themselves. But they already do. That is why they are blockheads.

    "Odyssey". Book by Jack McDevitt, 2006.
  • Don't assume that a species is intelligent because it produces intelligent individuals.

    "Infinity Beach". Book by Jack McDevitt, 2000.
  • Put the money into schools. Rational ones that train young minds to think, to demand that persons in authority show the evidence for the ideas they push. Do that, and we won't need to provide a world for the Sacred Brethren who, given the opportunity, would run everyone else off the planet.

    "Odyssey". Book by Jack McDevitt, 2006.
  • Man has always seen himself the peak of creation. The part of the universe that thinks. The purpose for it all. It's no doubt a gratifying view, but the universe may have a different opinion.

    Men  
    Jack McDevitt (2005). “Seeker”, p.134, Penguin
  • Sometimes the cost of integrity is the loss of a friend.

    "Odyssey". Book by Jack McDevitt, 2006.
  • Universal deities ... never seem to smile. Not in any culture. What's the point of having omnipotence if you don't enjoy it?

    Jack McDevitt (1995). “The Engines of God”, p.100, Penguin
  • If you want data to survive, carve it in rock.

    Jack McDevitt (2013). “Cauldron (Academy - Book 6): Academy -”, p.268, Hachette UK
  • I'm prepared to concede that stupidity does not help survival. One must after all understand not to poke a tiger with a stick. But intelligence leads to curiosity, and curiosity has never been a quality that helps one pour his or her genes into the pool. The truth must lie somewhere between. Whatever the reason, it is clearly mediocrity, at best, that lives and breeds.

  • There is no justice. There are occasional acts of vengeance, or regret, but there's no real justice. In the natural scheme of things, it is not possible.

    Jack McDevitt (2013). “Odyssey (Academy - Book 5): Academy -”, p.410, Hachette UK
  • Intelligence is like pornography. I can't define it, but I know if when I see it.

    Jack McDevitt (2013). “Odyssey (Academy - Book 5): Academy -”, p.151, Hachette UK
  • There is nothing that overwhelms the senses quite like an unwelcome silence.

    Jack McDevitt (2003). “Chindi”, p.159, Penguin
  • So we have progressed to the point where we can move politicians around faster than light. I'm not sure I see the advantage.

    "Odyssey". Book by Jack McDevitt, 2006.
  • There's not much to be said for sightseeing. You go somewhere that has a waterfall. You have a beer, watch the water go over the edge, and move on. Tours are all the same. In the end, the only thing that matters is the beer.

    Jack McDevitt (2013). “Odyssey (Academy - Book 5): Academy -”, p.172, Hachette UK
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  • We hope you have found the saying you were looking for in our collection! At the moment, we have collected 62 quotes from the Author Jack McDevitt, starting from April 14, 1935! We periodically replenish our collection so that visitors of our website can always find inspirational quotes by authors from all over the world! Come back to us again!
    Jack McDevitt quotes about: Decisions Evidence Running School