Cixin Liu > Quotes

“You’re one of the calmest people I’ve ever met.”
“The calmness comes from cynicism. There’s not much in the world that can make me care.”
― Cixin Liu, Remembrance of Earth's Past: The Three-Body Trilogy

“But in this dark forest, there's a stupid child named humanity, who has built a bonfire and is standing beside it shouting, 'Here I am! Here I am!”
― Cixin Liu, The Dark Forest

“Intellectuals always make a fuss about nothing.”
― Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem

“All you need to understand right now is this: the world isn't what it used to be”
― Cixin Liu, Supernova Era

“God does not exist. All religions are tools concocted by the ruling class to paralyze the spirit of the people.”
― Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem

“There's a strange contradiction revealed by the naivete and kindness demonstrated by humanity when faced with the universe: On Earth, humankind can step onto another continent, and without a though, destroy the kindred civilizations found there through warfare and disease. But when they gaze up at the stars, they turn sentimental and believe that if extraterrestrial intelligences exist, they must be civilizations bound by universal, noble, moral constraints, as if cherishing and loving different forms of life are parts of a self-evident universal code of conduct.”
― Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem

“I realized that beauty for most people is characterized by fragility and powerlessness. True beauty needs to be supported by an internal strength, and develop itself through sensations like terror and brutality, from which you can both draw strength and meet your death. In weapons, this beauty is expressed to the full.”
― Cixin Liu, Ball Lightning

“Mom, I'm going to be a firefly.”
― Cixin Liu, The Dark Forest

“No banquet was eternal. Everything had an end. Everything.”
― Cixin Liu, Death's End

“We should discuss what God looks like, even though we have been over this a thousand times before.’ ‘Yes,’ Lassini said, ‘that is the crux of the conflict and the crisis.’ ‘God undoubtedly resembles a dinosaur,’ said the dinosaur emperor. ‘We have seen God through our faith, and God’s image embodies all dinosaurs.’ ‘God undoubtedly looks like an ant,’ said the ant queen. ‘We have also seen God through our faith, and all ants are reflected in God’s image.”
― Cixin Liu, Of Ants and Dinosaurs

“A museum was built for visitors; a tombstone was built for the builders.”
― Cixin Liu, Death's End

“It was like a noose, indicating danger and aggression when held in the hand, but safety when wrapped around the holder's own neck.”
― Cixin Liu

“Now he saw only the stars and the headstones, the two greatest symbols of eternity.”
― Cixin Liu, The Dark Forest

“The entire sky flickered, as if the universe was but a quivering lamp in the wind.
Standing under the flashing dome of the night sky, Wang suddenly felt the universe shrink until it was so small that only he was imprisoned in it. The universe was a cramped heart, and the red light that suffused everything was the translucent blood that filled the organ.”
― Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem

“It's easy to make ideological mistakes in theory.”
― Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem

“We all understand the historical significance of the pendulum. It’s intended to hypnotize God.”
― Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem

“You are nothing more than a program. As for the rest of you, you’re either programs or idiots. I will log back on!”
― Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem

“Is it possible that the relationship between humanity and evil is similar to the relationship between the ocean and an iceberg floating on its surface? Both the ocean and the iceberg are made of the same material. That the iceberg seems separate is only because it is in a different form. In reality, it is but a part of the vast ocean.…”
― Cixin Liu

“You are walking across a plain when you suddenly encounter a wall. The wall is infinitely tall and extends infinitely deep underground. It stretches infinitely to the left and infinitely to the right. What is it?
-Death”
― Cixin Liu

“What can I do now? What is the purpose of my life? I have four point five billion dollars and an international oil company. But what good is all that? Humans have surely invested more than forty-five billion dollars in saving species near extinction. And probably more than four hundred and fifty billion has already been spent on saving the environment from degradation. But what’s the use? Civilization continues to follow its path of destruction of all life on Earth except humans. Four point five billion is enough to build an aircraft carrier, but even if we build a thousand aircraft carriers, it would be impossible to stop the madness of humanity.”
― Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem

“Einstein is a reactionary academic authority. He would serve any master who dangled money in front of him. He even went to the American Imperialists and helped them build the atom bomb! To develop a revolutionary science, we must overthrow the black banner of capitalism represented by the theory of relativity!”
― Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem

“But where is this war? This is probably the most peaceful period in history." Chang gave him an inscrutable smile. "You will know more soon. Everyone will know. Professor Wang, have you ever had anything happen to you that changed your life completely? Some event where afterward the world became a totally different place for you?" "No." "Then your life has been fortunate. The world is full of unpredictable factors, yet you have never faced a crisis." Wang turned over the words in his mind, still not understanding. "I think that's true of most lives." Then most people have lived fortunately." "But... many generations have lived in this plain manner." "All fortunate." Wang laughed, shaking his head. "I have to confess that I'm not feeling very sharp today. Are you suggesting that --" "Yes, the entire history of humankind has been fortunate. From the Stone Age till now, no real crisis has occurred. We've been very lucky. But if it's all luck, then it has to end one day. Let me tell you: It's ended. Prepare for the worst.”
― Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem

“»Está bien, hagamos lo posible por perdernos.»”
― Cixin Liu, El bosque oscuro

“В начале века один австралийский инженер построил крылатую ракету за пять тысяч долларов. Он предназначал ее для борьбы с терроризмом. Но тысячи партизанских отрядов Рей Диаса имели на вооружении двести тысяч таких ракет — их массово изготавливали всего по три тысячи долларов за штуку. Хотя ракеты собирали из дешевых и легкодоступных деталей, у них были радиолокационный высотомер и GPS. Такие ракеты поражали цель на расстоянии пять километров с погрешностью в пять метров. Лишь одна ракетная атака из десяти оказывалась успешной, но тем не менее они привели к огромным потерям у противника. Во время войны хорошо зарекомендовали себя и другие массово производимые поделки высоких технологий — такие как снайперские пули с бесконтактным взрывателем. Во время своего недолгого пребывания в Венесуэле армия США понесла потери, приближающиеся к потерям во вьетнамской войне. США были вынуждены отозвать войска. Поражение сильного от руки слабого превратило Рей Диаса в героя XXI века.”
― Cixin Liu, Three-Body Problem Boxed Set

“El tiempo no se puede detener. Como si de una hoja afilada se tratase, lo corta todo, blando o duro, sin ralentizar su avance. Nada lo altera ni lo más mínimo, pero el tiempo es capaz de cambiarlo todo.”
― Cixin Liu, El bosque oscuro

“Without the fear of heights, there can be no appreciation for the beauty of high places.”
― Cixin Liu, The Dark Forest

“In fact, when you read or make science fiction, your sympathy automatically moves away from ideas of ethnicity and nation and toward a higher idea of humanity as a whole; from this vantage, humanity naturally becomes a collective unit, rather than an assembly of different parts divided by ethnicity and nation.”
― Cixin Liu, To Hold Up the Sky

“Something sufficiently wierd must be fishy."
- Da Shi, The Three-Body Problem”
― Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem

“All that he could fish out from the sea of memory were a few fragments, and the farther back he went, the fewer there were. Had he really been to high school? Had he really attended primary school? Had he really had a first love? Some of the fragments bore clear scratches, reminding him that those things had indeed taken place. The details were vivid, but the feelings had vanished without a trace. The past was like a handful of sand you thought you were squeezing tightly, but which had already run out through the cracks between your fingers. Memory was a river that had run dry long ago, leaving only scattered gravel in a lifeless riverbed.”
― Cixin Liu

“To achieve a moral awakening required a force outside the human race.”
― Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem