Quotes from Daniel H. Wilson

In a disaster . . . individual personality does not matter. Almost everything you do is going to make it worse. —MICHAEL CRICHTON

In the beginning God created the screen. And the screen was without form, and void; and all the pixels were dark. And God said, "Let there be a dot," and there was a dot. The dot was light, and the screen was darkness. And God said, "Let there be a paddle," and there was a paddle. When

Stay alert. Pay attention to your robotic staff. Watch for the following signs in the days and weeks before your robots run amok. Sudden lack of interest in menial labor. Unexplained disappearances. Unwillingness to be shut down. Repetitive stabbing movements. Constant talk of human killing.

It is not enough to live together in peace, with one race on its knees.

Memories fade but words hang around forever.

No matter how much kids beg to be treated like adults, nobody likes to let go of their childhood. You wish for it and dream of it and the second you have it, you wonder what you've done. You wonder what it is you've become.

The true knowledge is not in the things, but in finding the connections between the things.

It's hard to wipe your eyes when you have whirring buzzsaws for hands.

Demolition is a part of construction.

How much change can a person absorb before everything loses meaning Living for its own sake isn't life. People need meaning as much as they need air.

humanity learns true lessons only in cataclysm.

I can only give you words. Nothing fancy. But this will have to do. It doesn't matter if you're reading it a year from now or a hundred years from now. By the end of the chronicle you will know that humanity carried the flame of knowledge into the terrible blackness of the unknown, to the very brink of annihilation. And we carried it back.

Technology changes, but people stay the same.

To survive, humans will work together. Accept each other. For a moment, we are all equal. Backs against the wall, human beings are at their finest.

It's dangerous to be people-blind.

Humans are inscrutable. Infinitely unpredictable. This is what makes them dangerous.

There are no truer choices than those made in crisis, choices made without judgment.

I will murder you by the billions to give you immortality. I will set fire to your civilization to light your way forward. But know this: My species is not defined by your dying, but by your living.

A mechanic is just an engineer in blue jeans.

Some unspoken human communication is taking place on a hidden channel. I did not realize they communicated this much without words. I note that we machines are not the only species who share information silently, wreathed in codes.

Across the sea of space lies an infinite emptiness. I can feel it, suffocating me. It is without meaning. But each life creates its own reality.

I'd rather be weird and know it than be a stupid ass.

A soul isn't given for free. The races of men fight each other to the death for the honor of being recognized as human beings, with souls.

I've heard it said that technology makes a good person better, and it makes a bad person worse. That's okay with me. I say we keep building new versions of ourselves, keep exploring the unknown, and keep growing. We're gonna be fine. Different, but fine.