Quotes from Neal Asher

You left him his Gift, I see,' he said. Claus looked momentarily worried. I thought it best to leave that decision to you.' Remove it now.' Claus fisted his own chest then strode over to the old man in the frame. No … no, you can't,' Amoloran gasped as Claus closed his fingers around the scaled aug behind the old man's ear.

Fucking supercilious Polity minds. They could be so super intelligent, but they had no real idea about her. About the alliances, responsibilities, commitments and the sheer difficulty involved in relinquishing something she'd fought so hard to build, and it had no appreciation of just how vulnerable she'd be if she let it go. They never went through anything like this—just adjusted themselves either physically or mentally to suit current circumstances.

The test of character was in what you did, not what you thought about doing.

Having human DNA should not immediately grant an individual inalienable rights. Rights, it was decided, and equivalent responsibilities, should be given to 'citizens', and only those above a certain level of intelligence could become citizens. Protests did result when some humans failed to qualify, whilst all AIs and some particularly bright pigs did

Consider what the word "augmentation" means. The idea is that you augment something already existing. Many who do it destroy that essential something in the process – become more their additions than themselves. It is part of the haiman ethos to retain that humanity until such a time as it becomes possible to truly extend self. They call themselves haimans but know that until that becomes possible they are not truly post-human.

However, let us not presume politicians are ineffectual, for whenever the bombs and napalm are falling, the mines taking off legs and the bullets punching holes in human flesh, they are always behind the firing line, deciding who should die.

every new "danger" pointed out to them by the elites, which, of course, each needed "regulation." The politicians who made and imposed the rules considered themselves

As he landed Wade said, was stepping through a wall of treacle The light, on your carbine,' and pointed with the torch he himself held.

It is very difficult to motivate people to revolution when they are extremely comfortable and well off.

To dispense with these hatreds, we need not to want them. Unfortunately, people cherish their bigotry, misanthropy and animosities, and they don them like well-worn and well-loved clothes.

However, he might not accept that having your face eaten off was suitable punishment for smoking aboard her ship.

As you well know, Polity or Prador intervention in the Graveyard is frowned upon,' said the drone. 'If Polity forces were to turn up here, then your king would have to respond, by which time the turd trajectory would be fanwards.

There is no such thing as immortality: death is change. A human being is dying every day that it lives. The material of its body is exchanged for other materials, its thoughts change. All that lives is the DNA, and what does that matter to you? In the end it is your mind that is important.

What we actually needed was a technology that's been around for a couple of centuries. It's called birth control.

Stone Age men broke flint and found it cut things better than their own teeth did. We've created methods of transportation that work better than legs, and often do things we could only dream of, like flying. A hydraulic grip clamps on things better than a human hand. They're all tools and nobody objects to them, so why should anyone object to creating minds that are better at thinking than our own, and rulers that are better at their job than those humans who would aspire to rule?

to appreciate the wonder of the universe, one must first remain alive.

Cormac studied one of the portraits, vaguely identifying it as of some very early premillennial cosmonaut

technology is merely a tool and any blame always rests squarely on the one wielding that tool. Saul

Well, you can fuck off,' said Blade. 'I am Mobius Clean,' said the AI.