Quotes from Diane Duane

any space tends to look serene when it's not full of angry dinosaurs

She thought briefly of one police force in a neighboring state, some years back, which without a second thought had for many years classified people murdered in its jurisdiction as "male victim," "female victim," and "prostitute.

Not even Spock had stayed aboard for that—he found breathing vacuum for any length of time to be aesthetically unpleasant.

Kit gave the Pig a look. Oh, come on! The Powers... His voice trailed off as the Pig gave him the same look right back. I mean, the One... wouldn't play jokes-- Wouldn't It? said the Transcendent Pig. Been out in the real world lately?

And to the Pig he said, What's the meaning of life? You know, a friend of yours was asking me the same thing the other day, said the Transcendent Pig, ambling over, sitting down, and looking Ponch over in an amiable way. Is asking, it added.

Believe me, I'm not far.)

When people think an idea is theirs, he said later in his writings aboard Rea's Helm, they take it so much the more to heart than if they think they got it from someone else, or worse, followed a great public trend. There is nothing people want to do more than to follow great trends, and nothing they want less to seem to be doing.

Vulcan has no moon," various Vulcans have been heard to remark: accurate as always, when speaking scientifically. "Damn right it doesn't," at least one Terran has responded: "it has a nightmare." T'Khut

We're killing lots of dinosaurs though. The trains are helping." "The TRAINS are—" "Only one derailed so far," Urruah said cheerfully.

Lass, it still seems impossible. To alter a universe's whole operating system just by sayin' you want to—" "But Mt'gm'ry, there was at least one person I know of on your planet who used to do such things rather routinely. He codified one of the basic rules for the art: 'Ask, and it shall be given unto you.' An inspired creative physicist, way ahead of his time.

susceptible

Believe something and the Universe is on its way to being changed. Because you've changed, by believing. Once you've changed, other things start to follow. Isn't that how it works?

He once reduced the President of the United States—then a ceremonial post, but one much loved by people who lived within the old borders—to tears of laughter at a state dinner, by delivering a learned dissertation on computer data storage technology in a flawless Texan accent. The lady was later heard to propose an amendment to the Constitution to allow off-worlders to hold high public office, so that she could have him for her running mate in the next election. It

Starfleet's desire is to find an 'antidote' or countermeasure that will make the Sunseed routines essentially useless, and to disseminate that information freely to every inhabited star system. They want to teach every vulnerable system a way to make both ships and planets effectively immune to the routine, able to stop it as soon as someone starts to use it." Ael

Jim chuckled. "All right. Listen, can you get me an uplink to the ship from there? I want a look at the BBS." Spock thought a moment. "That should be no problem. Wait a moment." His fingers danced over the keys. McCoy

A fragile thing, brittle-looking, an objet d' art, round and perfect: but for how long? From far enough out in orbit, one has no doubt that one could drop the Earth on the floor of night and break it. An urge arises to step softly, to speak quietly, so as to keep whoever might be carrying the pretty toy from being startled and fumbling it.

Nobody played poker with Mike Walsh--at least, not twice--but people fought to get aboard Constellation. Her command record since Mike took her was almost the equal of Enterprise's for danger, daring, and success not only snatched from the jaws of failure, but afterward used to beat failure over the head.

No one noticed them, which was just as it should have been; and life in the city went on….

It was an annoying realization, but it was the truth; and as such, she wouldn't have given it up for anything.

I will meet idiots today, went one version of her after-waking meditation, and one of them will probably be me. Iau Hau'hai, Queen of Life and of Making Things Work, grant me of Your courtesy the courage to shred that idiot's ears when I meet her, and then get on with work…for being right is nothing next to having things be right…

NO! came his scream from beyond the wall of trees, hating, raging, desperate. But Nita felt no fear. It was as it had been in the beginning; all his no's had never been able to stand against life's I Am.

I've always had this feeling that there should be some loud noise when that happens," Jim said to Harb. "A bang, or a thunderclap or something.

There is a rule for fantasy writers: The more truth you mix in with a lie, the stronger it gets.