Dennis E. Taylor > Quotes

“How are you supposed to feel if you are forced to do what you would have done anyway?”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“People's capacity for turning dogmatic stupidity into political movements never ceased to amaze me. We've knocked off 99.9% of the human race and somehow the crazies still manage to survive. It just defies the odds.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“Since I doubt, I think; since I think, I exist.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“Wake up, buddy. You okay?” “Auntie Em! Auntie Em!” Homer’s VR came online, smiling. “I guess we got’em.” I snorted with relief. “And their little dog, too.” Homer steepled his fingers in a properly evil mastermindish pose. “All their base are belong to us.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“I like people in the abstract but not in the concrete?”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“The Iron Rule: Treat others less powerful than you however you like. The Silver Rule: Treat others as you’d like to be treated. The Golden Rule: Treat others as they’d like to be treated.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, Heaven's River

“At one time, we thought that the way life came together was almost completely random, only needing an energy gradient to get going. But as we’ve moved into the information age, we’ve come to realize that life is more about information than energy. Fire has most of the characteristics of life. It eats, it grows, it reproduces. But fire retains no information. It doesn’t learn; it doesn’t adapt. The five millionth fire started by lightning will behave just like the first. But the five hundredth bacterial division will not be like the first one, especially if there is environmental pressure. That’s DNA. And RNA. That’s life. …”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“Don’t make the common mistake of thinking your opponents are stupid just because they don’t see things your way,”
― Dennis E. Taylor, All These Worlds

“Stereotypes are valid first-order approximations.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“the wonderful thing about knowledge is that you can give it away and still have it.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, Heaven's River

“Belly laughs are one of the best things about being sentient, and you should never miss a chance for one.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“The cat’s A.I. was realistic, right down to the total lack of loyalty.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, For We Are Many

“It seemed sometimes that life was nothing more than the accumulation of emotional baggage-memories,regrets and lost opportunities.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, All These Worlds

“So, you’re doing things the hard way, because you’re too lazy to figure out how to do them the easy way?”
― Dennis E. Taylor, All These Worlds

“Yeah, they still make duct tape. And it still holds the universe together.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“All actions have risks. Most inactions even more so.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, Heaven's River

“Point is, that’s when I really realized that I don’t think like most people. I’m fine with solitude. In fact, I get antsy when I’m around people for too long a period without respite.” The”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“Um. Ways in which a sentence beginning with the word "missiles" could be a good thing... Nope. I got nuthin'.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“Just when you start to get ahead in the rat race, the universe delivers bigger rats.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, For We Are Many

“But right or wrong, I’ll die in peace. And Pascal’s Wager works both ways, right?” I nodded, returning his smile. “Yup. If you’re wrong, you won’t have the opportunity to regret it.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, All These Worlds

“Well, the fecal matter seems to have struck the atmospheric propulsor.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, For We Are Many

“It blew me away that almost two hundred years after Shatner first famously didn’t actually say, “Beam me up, Scotty,” people still knew Star Trek. Now that’s a franchise.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“The death squad shot forward at close to forty G, and I imagined them yelling “Wheee!” in high-pitched minion voices.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, For We Are Many

“Hey, with IPv8, we should be able to address every galaxy in the universe.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

“If I treat you how I want to be treated, I’m not taking into account your desires.” Theresa made an imploring gesture. “If you are a Unitist and can’t eat land meat, but land meat is my favorite, the Silver Rule says I’m behaving morally by offering you a steak if you’re hungry. But of course you won’t eat it and in fact may be offended. So the Silver Rule is still to a large extent about me and my desires. However, with the Golden Rule, I am obligated to take into account your beliefs and preferences when deciding how best to behave toward you. Does this not produce a better result?”
― Dennis E. Taylor, Heaven's River

“when you went from not knowing something to knowing something, it changed the way you lived.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, For We Are Many

“Retired just means I don’t have a job description, and I can work on what I want now.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, Heaven's River

“At times like this, I wondered if I hadn’t gone a little overboard with the level of detail in my virtual-reality environment. There was no reason for me to even have nether regions, let alone for them to pucker.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, For We Are Many

“nothing had ever been invented or discovered that beat chocolate—”
― Dennis E. Taylor, All These Worlds

“Interestingly, two hundred years later and twenty light years away, people still behaved the same in elevators as they did in Original Bob’s day. Everyone turned to face the doors, and ignored each other.”
― Dennis E. Taylor, All These Worlds