Quotes from Jack McDevitt

Few people achieve greatness. One reason is that the opportunity, for the vast majority of us, never even shows up. Another is that if it does, it will inevitably look like a long shot. And the temptation invariably is to play it safe.

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. —Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams, 1816

He had to raise his voice to be heard over the wind. 'That Might be our future in that box.' 'The future is ours to take, Jack we don't need anybody to give it to us.' Walker looked out through the windows at the lake. It was immense.

Carson recordó la vieja historia del siglo XX del cosmonauta que se quedó desamparado en el espacio cuando la Unión Soviética se disolvió: se encontraba dando vueltas a la Tierra cuando, de repente, el país que lo había llevado hasta allá arriba dejó de existir.

Contemporaries only know the authority figures and the loudmouths. And the people born into power. But it takes perspective to know who's carrying the load. Nobody here has a clue who Johannes Kepler is. All they know about Galileo is that he's a teacher who got in trouble with the Inquisition. I doubt anyone's heard of Francis Bacon. Even in Britain, nobody really knows him. He's just a guy with a funny name.

And never forget, Michael said, time travelers never die. No matter what you saw up ahead, about me, I'll always be here.

Squeej? What kind of name was that for a pilot?

The truth is that we've always been greedy and stupid. We have no imagination, and the only reason we've survived this long is that we produce just enough smart people to keep us going.

The assumption had always been that if people are well fed, feel secure, and have decent homes, everything will be fine. But they needed something else as well. Call it self-respect or a sense of purpose. Whatever, it was missing now. Maybe spreading out through the galaxy would provide it, maybe not. But she was convinced that if the human race simply settled onto its collective front porch, as it seemed to be doing, it had no future.

The secret to a successful career in virtually any field is good public relations. Forget results. Forget the facts. Perception is all that matters.

The term congressional hearing is an oxymoron. No congressional hearing is ever called to gather information. Rather, it is an exercise designed strictly for posturing, by people who have already made up their minds, looking for ammunition to support their positions.

The most common cause of plans going wrong and operations collapsing can usually be traced to a communication breakdown. The secret to management success, in peace or war, is to explain strategy in clear terms, and to listen. Acquire those two skills, and fate will be kind.

I was thinking how much trouble people get into because they can't keep their mouths shut.

Somewhere we taught ourselves that our opinions are more significant than the facts. And somehow we get our egos and our opinions and Truth all mixed up in a single package, so that when something does challenge one of the notions to which we subscribe, we react as if it challenges us.

We range the day And mount the sun. We soar past the rim of the world, And know not caution nor fear. But too soon the night comes. –Sigma Hotel

People who wear their religion on their sleeves talk a lot about going to Sunday school, reading the Bible, and doing good works. And I suppose there's no harm in that. But if I'd gone to the trouble to pull all this together ... and people never paid any attention to it, never bothered to try to find out how the world worked, then I think I'd get annoyed.

I am persuaded that your people are foolish beyond any reasonable expectation. Not all of them. Obviously, there are many who are reasonable. Otherwise, you could never have reached this world. But the intelligence seems to be confined to a relatively few individuals. When your people come together as a group, they do not perform well.

Science is an investigation into reality, how atoms interact and biological systems develop and stars give heat. Myth is also an investigation into reality, but into a reality of a different type: It informs us of the deepest desires and fears of the subconscious mind. The place where we really live.

The problem is that too often the only people who can act don't want change. Power doesn't so much corrupt as it breeds conservatism.

Time is like a river. As soon as a thing is seen, it is carried away and another takes its place, and then that other is carried away also. —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS         DAVE

What's the point of a god who never intervenes?

Intelligence and compassion are the heart of what it means to be human. Help others where you can. That is clear enough. But a Creator may well want us to open our eyes, as well. If there is a judgment, God may not be particularly interested in how many hymns we sang or what prayers we memorized. I suspect He may instead look at us and say, "I gave you a brain, and you never used it. I gave you the stars, and you never looked.

The vast majority of us are far more capable than we realize. We grow up with parents, teachers, bosses all telling us what we can't do. Don't touch it; you'll break it. They mean well, but they leave us with a sense of our own incapacity. When the day comes, if it comes, that you begin to believe in yourself, the world will be yours. —Mara

Unfortunately," he said, "we have short memories. Most heroes are forgotten by the next news cycle.