Quotes from Jack Vance

Like any craft, writing is mastered by practice and patience, and if one has any "knack" for it at all, that very knack—paradoxically—can explicate everything under the sun but itself.

An inch of foreknowledge is worth ten miles of afterthought

I had contrived a method by which a transient might locate the best restaurant in town. He must find the local bookshop and take advice from the proprietor, who infallibly will possess this information. Why the bookshop? Because bookshop owners are usually discriminating gourmets without too much money.

Bodissey: The evil man is a source of fascination; ordinary persons wonder what impels such extremes of conduct. A lust for wealth? A common motive, undoubtedly. A craving for power? Revenge against society? Let us grant these as well. But when wealth has been gained, power achieved and society brought down to a state of groveling submission, what then? Why does he continue? The response must be: the love of evil for its own sake.

give dignity second place to expedience

On occasion I read Raymond Chandler although I have certain reservations about this author. Chandler, while obviously a master of his craft, makes overuse of simile, to my annoyance.

The malefactor becomes the creature of his own deeds. Once the transition has been overpassed a new set of standards comes into force. The perceptive malefactor recognizes his evil and knows full well the meaning of his acts. In order to quiet his qualms he retreats into a state of solipsism, and commits flagrant evil from sheer hysteria, and for his victims it appears as if the world

malefactor becomes the creature of his own deeds. Once the transition has been overpassed a new set of standards comes into force. The perceptive malefactor recognizes his evil and knows full well the meaning of his acts. In order to quiet his qualms he retreats into a state of solipsism, and commits flagrant evil from sheer hysteria, and for his victims it appears as if the world has gone mad.

From Life, Volume I, by Unspiek, Baron

But still — there's always excitement The star gleams, you notice a circlet of planets, you ask yourself, will it be now? And time after time: the smoke and ammonia, the weird crystals, the winds of monoxide, the rains of acid. But you go on and on and on. Perhaps in the region ahead the elements coalesce into nobler forms. Of course it's the same slime and black trap and methane snow. And then suddenly: there it is. Utter beauty Ã¢â'¬Â¦

The wash of so many peoples had left behind a complex detritus: ruined strongholds; graves and tombs; steles carved with cryptic glyphs: songs, dances, turns of speech, fragments of dialect, place-names; ceremonies of purport now forgotten, but with lingering flavour. There were dozens of cults and religions, diverse except that, in every case, a caste of priests interceded between laity and divinity.

Masensen looked in anguish to right, left, up at the ceiling. "A man," he said, "at the Grand Pomador Hotel. His name — Spock.

aloof from the society of ordinary mortals

A sign on the wall read: "Please call our attention to your slightest dissatisfaction, whereupon the Chief Dietician will appear and explain in unforgettable terms the synergistic concepts behind her preparations, and make it clear why every mouthful must be carefully chewed and swallowed.

There are also those who, like the author, ensconce themselves on a thunderous crag of omniscience and, with protestations of humility which are either unconvincing or totally absent, assume the obligation of appraisal, commendation, derogation or denunciation of their contemporaries. Still, by and large it is an easier job than digging a ditch.

young Araminta Smade

Hunzel gave a fleering laugh. "Remember only that the Aquabelle work-camp is stark, and that the food — what there is of it — is sour and bitter.

The mark of good writing, in my opinion, is that the reader is not aware that the story has been written; as he reads, the ideas and images flow into his mind as if he were living them.

Folk who turn their backs on trouble only get their arses kicked.

I am a practical man, I try to control the shape of the 'nows' which lie in the offing, instead of submitting to them as they occur.

Schwatzendale pulled at his chin. He mused. "There is stuff here which requires sober over-thinking." Moncrief waved away the idea. "No need! I have done all necessary thinking. The scheme is excellent!

But I know nothing, and want to know nothing, of troubles and conflicts and war! I am a man of peace!' 'And I no less! But even men of peace must learn to fight. The world is often brutal, and not everyone shares our ideals. Therefore, you must be prepared to defend yourself and your loved ones, or reconcile yourself to slavery.

Conditions at Flutic are always optimum and at worst meticulous.

Pride is intellectual self-judgment. It's a mixture of hope and fantasy, and should be put aside. 'Assurance', which is a measure of competence, is a more useful standard.