Samit Basu > Quotes

“I just don't see why having these powers makes it necessary for all of us to become politicians, warriors, social workers, whatever. We would have tried it before if we really wanted to do it. None of us chose to spend our lives helping people before we got our powers - why should we do it now? Because comics say we should?”
― Samit Basu, Turbulence

“Usually when my life goes according to plan, it turns out the plan was made by someone else”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“Here’s something you might not know, though—rulers tend to not be the smartest people.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“A hassled volunteer stands at what used to be the sex-bot meeting area, explaining that the sex-bots have unionized and are temporarily unavailable”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“Most people believe that gods exist. Many do not; this does not trouble the gods, who know that if gods, in turn, were to not believe that people exist, people would actually cease to exist. Mortal belief does make gods stronger; it inflates their egos, which is always good for the metabolism.”
― Samit Basu, The Unwaba Revelations

“Humans are often able to have successful lifelong relationships with others despite being completely unable to comprehend even basic, directly delivered communications.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“Just ask me anything you can think of,’ said Gaam kindly.

The Sphinx leaned forward. ‘What have I got in my pockets?’ she asked, an insane glare in her eyes.

‘That’s not a riddle, that’s a question!’ said Gaam indignantly.

‘Well, you said she could ask you anything,’ said Erkila smoothly. ‘So you have to answer her. But I admit it’s a little strange. Where did you get this riddle?’ she asked the Sphinx.

‘I don’t remember. Possibly from someone I ate,’ murmured the Sphinx. ‘Well, mortal?’

‘Are you sure you want me to answer your riddle?’ asked Gaam.

‘Of course.’

‘And you will let me go if I answer correctly?’

The Sphinx shot a look at Erkila, watching them calmly. ‘Yes,’ she said.

‘Very well. When I saw you first, I noticed that like all Sphinxes, you are half woman and half lioness. Also, like all Sphinxes, you do not wear clothes. Since you do not wear clothes, you have no pockets. Therefore, you cannot possibly have anything in your pockets.’ He bowed. ‘A somewhat impulsive question, if I may say so.’

‘There’s no need to gloat,’ grumbled the Sphinx. She padded off, leaving Gaam with Erkila.”
― Samit Basu, The Simoqin Prophecies

“You exist, and you deserve to belong.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“I create a thread of hope out of nothing, and I pull on it. I am, in whatever way, still alive, and I deserve to love. There is more to life than the people I love. And there are more people to love.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“Ling, my soul you sting, in pain I sing, my coffin you bring.”
― Samit Basu, Testing Times

“Things have to change here, and if all the good people leave, who will do the work?”
― Samit Basu, The City Inside

“people wanted escape, not truth; perfection, not reality. They had more than enough reality to deal with.”
― Samit Basu, The City Inside

“Of course power corrupts people. But that doesn't mean you don't trust - it just means you verify with care. In the end, people have no option but to work together.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“I don't want to talk about this. It's not that I think you're wrong, but it's too big for me. I'll never be able to do anything about it.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“Your ignorance astounds me, Ranvir. No doubt you are destined for political office,’ said Ombwiri.”
― Samit Basu, The Simoqin Prophecies

“It hurts me to know that there are other women out there in the world that could make you happy.”
― Samit Basu, Shekhar Kapur's Devi - Vol. 1

“Quests such as this take a long time. Learning how to not repeat mistakes, and gaining a slight understanding of how little control I have over anything takes even longer.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“There are so many people in this world that can be right for each other. If there weren’t, then cheating would never be an issue. Everyone would find their one true love and life would be great—relationships would be a piece of cake. But that’s not how it is in reality, and I realize this.”
― Samit Basu, Shekhar Kapur's Devi - Vol. 1

“It's all very clear, I just chose not to get it, I just decided everyone who didn't agree with my vision was lying, or a fool.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“He is proud of himself for bringing himself up, for developing his own value systems based on unregulated popular culture tropes instead of the owner-clan warfare manuals and propaganda that dangerous bots normally grow up on. For defining his own form—monkey, not shapeshifting murder machine—in honor of his missing father and his fleeting memories of the time he was his sister’s favorite person. For being himself, for choosing himself, for naming himself. He is Bador, and he is ready now.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“No one is watching us here, there are no rules, nothing for you to violate. We are both men of power. Rules are not even guidelines, but just - what is the word? Vibes.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“History tells us that some things never change. One of these things is: history bores a lot of people.”
― Samit Basu, The Simoqin Prophecies

“The jinn grants wishes. Three per user.” “Why three?” Bador asks. “It was judged to be an appropriate free trial period,” the jinn says. “More wishes can be unlocked in Unlimited Mode.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“A world of magic,’ said the Civilian, ‘is not a world governed by rules. Of course, there are always rules, but where magic exists, these rules create themselves and change often. (...)”
― Samit Basu, The Simoqin Prophecies

“Of course, some adjustments had to be made [to heroic quests]. For example, when a giant sea serpent had been spotted idling in the ocean, no doubt scouting for a pleasant coastline to ravage, they had known it would attack a maiden tied to a rock. The only problem had been getting a maiden to volunteer to be tied to a rock. No one in Bolvudis particularly wanted to end up inside a sea serpent’s stomach. Asvin had been very surprised, until Gaam had explained that it was not always the case that a hero’s mere presence would cast all damsels in the area into perilous predicaments he could rescue them from. Most of the rescues in the legends were, Gaam said, either fictitious or pre-arranged, and hardly ever sheer coincidence or fate. In the end a grumbling Maya had let herself be tied to a rock while Asvin, sword in hand, prowled the beach.

The fact that the serpent’s arrival had created a huge wave that had swept Gaam and Asvin far away and Maya had had to burn off her ropes and kill the monster on her own was, they all agreed, best kept secret.”
― Samit Basu, The Simoqin Prophecies

“Sometimes two people need to fall apart to realize how much they need to fall back together.”
― Samit Basu, Shekhar Kapur's Devi - Vol. 1

“Humans are just so incredibly tacky, Bador signals. They see entry calls for a bot combat tournament, and they just have to tie toasters to their heads and apply. Anyone asks questions, they say they identify as bots! Bot allies! It’s just wrong, and if it wasn’t my one way off this trash planet, forget breaking in, I wouldn’t even watch it. He’s actually vibrating with rage.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“Before the Tigers, or the other clans, or the eras before, the algorithms, the megacorps, the nations, the empires, all the way back to the first city-states--- no ruler has looked after our people, they have had to look out for one another. It is why Shantiport continues to exist, against all logic, and that's the spirit that we have to find a way to channel. No system works, no authority is benevolent, no promise is kept. When the megastorms and floods come, when the genocides come, and the famines and diseases, the rest of the world will not even bother to look, let alone help. If they know about us it is a a symbol of poverty, or decay, or despair. But despite all this, sometimes clusters of people emerge, however flawed, who build institutions and culturewaves larger than themselves.”
― Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

“A violet glow spread in the east. On Kirin’s arm, the Gauntlet of Tatsu bled an angry scarlet fire. The dragon on their left snorted impatiently.

It is time, said Kirin.

What is time? asked his dragon, confused.

It, snapped Kirin. Move.”
― Samit Basu, The Unwaba Revelations

“They don't want people to live like humans. They want them for data, and then for meat”
― Samit Basu, The City Inside