Quotes from Stanis?aw Lem

I will put it in another way: if a creation were to take place—which personally I cannot conceive—then the level of knowledge that it would require would be of such an order that there would be no place in it for silly jokes.

Every science comes with its own pseudo-science, a bizarre distortion that comes from a certain kind of mind: astronomy has its caricaturist in astrology, chemistry used to have alchemy. So

among others—the Oofs (not the "Oops," as the text gives)

I stood, or rather hung suspended, in a bed of air, all of one piece with my metal shell.

Of the two powers, the two categories that take possession of us when we enter the world (from where?), space is by far the less mysterious. . . . Space is, after all, solid, monolithic. . . . Time, on the other hand, is a hostile element, truly treacherous, I would even say against human nature.

I was Mowgli, of course, and Winnetou, and Captain Nemo.

For what are myths if not the imposing of order on phenomena that do not possess order in themselves. And all myths however they differ from philosophical systems and scientific theories, share this with them, that they negate the principle of randomness in the world.

Dopóki nie skorzystaÅ'em z Internetu, nie wiedziaÅ'em, ?e na Å›wiecie jest tylu idiotów

There I could look at heads cut open in various ways, innumerable ways, the whole machinery drawn and colored with the utmost precision. I especially loved the pictures of brains, whose different coils were distinguished by every color of the rainbow. Many years later, when in an anatomy lab I saw a real brain for the first time, I was surprised (though of course I knew better) that it was so drab a thing.

Je?eli mog? by? bezwzgl?dny dla innych musz? by? bezwzgl?dny dla siebie.

PojechaÅ'em dalej i zaparkowaÅ'em pod wielkimi kasztanami przy basenie, po którym pÅ'ywaÅ'y senne Å'abÄ™dzie. Nie lubiÄ™ tych gÅ'upich bydlÄ…t i nie rozumiem, czemu tylu zdolnych ludzi zwÅ'aszcza artystów, daÅ'o siÄ™ nabra? na ich wygiÄ™te szyje.

They have shown school as a complex game, a battle of opposing interests, where the teacher, representing authority and power, attempts to pack the maximum information into the students' heads, while the students, by nature the weaker side, do their best to avoid that information.

Ksi??k? mo?na czytelnikowi g?ow?, owszem przemeblowa? o tyle, o ile jakie? meble ju? w niej przed lektur? sta?y.

Let us begin by saying that no two symmetriads are alike and that the geometry of each is, as it were, an "invention" of the living ocean. So then, the symmetriad produces in its interior things that are often called "instant machines," though these formations bear no resemblance to machines constructed by people — the term only refers to a certain "mechanical" purposiveness of operation.

I still believe that the world is arranged in our favor, since we can nevertheless gain mastery over things that run counter to our senses.

To on (lecz znów nie pamiÄ™tam, który) udowodniÅ' matematycznie mo?liwo?? przeksztaÅ'cania siÄ™ kwarków w akwarki, a tych- w akwaria. W naszym WszechÅ›wiecie nie jest to mo?liwe, ale w innych niechybnie tak, i tym samym teoria ta wykroczyÅ'a poza granice naszego Uniwersum.

The world is ordered according to universal rules called laws of Nature, but the same rule may manifest itself differently at different intensities.

Nie lubi? ciem, zw?aszcza gdy siadaj? mi na twarzy, chcia?em j? trzepn??, ale w zasi?gu r?ki by? tylko gruby, twardo oprawiony tom hotelowej Biblii, a Bibli? niezr?cznie jako?.

Your learned ones must have realized long ago that planetary cooperation is invariably more profitable than struggles for loot and supremacy!

U?ywanie nazw, jak Wieloryp, RozwaleÅ", Trupiec, ZdechÅ'oÅ", Ã…Å¡cierwiszon, Padliniak, okreÅ›lanie k. jako ZwÅ'okochodów, KÅ'usogrobów, Kryptodreptów itp. jest Å›cigane i karane poni?ajÄ…cym przesiedleniem (zsyÅ'kÄ… w tyÅ', tzw. ozadnictwem).

The night transfixed me; the night took possession of me, enveloped and penetrated me, impalpable, insubstantial. Turned to stone.

When it is possible to duplicate the one you love, there is no more loved one, there is only the mockery of love, and when it is possible to become anyone at all and hold whatever convictions you like, then you are already no one and can hold no convictions.

Skrajny wyraz postaw antysynturalnych to ukradkowe samobójstwo porcjowane. Akt rozpoczyna siÄ™ zazwyczaj od niewinnego obgryzania paznokci

the world injected its patterns into human language at the very inception of that language; mathematics sleeps in every utterance, and can only be discovered, never invented.