Michael C. Grumley > Quotes

“This is about the world being a much more frightening place to live in tomorrow if we don’t do something today. And every generation after us will have to pay the price. The price of not stopping this while we could.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Catalyst

“corporations have become the puppet masters behind the government.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Breakthrough

“our hopes of communicating with aliens are pretty remote if we haven’t even learned to communicate with another species on the same planet.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Breakthrough

“We spend almost our entire lives arguing over who’s good and who’s bad. Who is greedy and who is just a bleeding heart. Who’s part of the problem and who’s part of the solution. But in the end, I’m not sure if it really matters, because death doesn’t care what your opinions are.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Mosaic

“any leader who did not or could not understand the fundamentals of what their teams did, should not be leading those teams in the first place.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Breakthrough

“Clay cleared his throat and answered Einhorn. “Well, sir, the failure was caused by a power fluctuation on one of the drone’s motherboards. It’s the same board that controls the transceivers and antennas. We think it’s a design flaw with the hardware since we’ve been able to reproduce the problem several times.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Leap

“Mother Nature may not always be fair, strangely and often perversely, she was always balanced.  It was just a question of how.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Mosaic

“The greater the struggle, the greater the life.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Ripple

“But, being safe doesn’t mean being happy.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Breakthrough

“Death doesn’t care about anything.  It just comes and takes you…indiscriminately.    Just taps you on the shoulder, like a cold dagger down your spine.  Reminding you that all of this is temporary.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Mosaic

“It’s funny. We spend almost our entire lives arguing over who’s good and who’s bad. Who is greedy and who is just a bleeding heart. Who’s part of the problem and who’s part of the solution. But in the end, I’m not sure if it really matters.” He turned and smiled sadly at Langford. “Because death doesn’t care what your opinions are.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Mosaic

“Okay,” Langford pressed his fingers together in front of his face. “If this is true…. if the Chinese found a special rare earth deposit, then what are in those crates of theirs?”
― Michael C. Grumley, Leap

“These men lived in the glow of the most prized possession of all: ultimate power.  The one constant that eventually changed all men before enslaving them.  Power was the greatest of all drugs.  In monarchies, these men were kings.  In Communism, they were dictators.  In republics and democracies, they were politicians and generals.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Catalyst

“deciding in the end the only thing that mattered was the virtue of the here and now.  Agendas and opinions too often modified even those legacies that did survive history’s gradual erasure.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Echo

“Only on how we are becoming more and more commercial with each project.  Corporations are driving it all with their friends in Washington beating their ‘in the interest of national security’ drums which means that anything connected to energy these days, especially the black liquid kind, is considered national security.  Most of our projects in the last few years have been soil and drilling samples thinly disguised as marine research which really means looking for new oil reserves for the conglomerates.”  He leaned back in his chair unable to hide his irritation.  “I’ll tell you this, corporations have become the puppet masters behind the government.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Breakthrough

“He was choosing specific items to make his case and throwing out the rest, all while using everyone’s fear of the small chance he was right. ”
― Michael C. Grumley, Breakthrough

“History, for both of our worlds, is filled with millions and millions of meaningless deaths. Wars over lands or resources that later meant nothing. The worst, over religious beliefs, which were nothing more than emotional ideas being systematically forced onto others.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Breakthrough

“It was how all human history occurred.  Important events creating ripple effects through an unfathomably complex minefield of social and political consequences.  Ending with what could only be described as unexpected and unpredictable results.  Only to be recorded later, by thoughtful but biased individuals, as “history.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Ripple

“Dolphins are the second smartest animal on the planet and they are the only species besides humans that are self-aware.  For example, when you put a mirror in the tank, dolphins will actually look at themselves and even examine their bodies.  They understand the connection and the fact that there is a world around them, so the depth of exchange possible here is staggering.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Breakthrough

“Human nature changes when it must change, John Clay. Never sooner. And nothing will change it more than when the survival of an individual group is surpassed by the survival of one's entire species. When your entire human race is threatened with extinction, politics and fighting no longer matter.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Ripple

“any leader who did not or could not understand the fundamentals of what their teams did should not be leading those teams in the first place. He insisted it made for better decision making and created a more efficiently run department”
― Michael C. Grumley, Breakthrough

“There was something ineffable about the open ocean.  Something in the waves, from its endless rolling swells to its smallest ripples tumbling gently onto the shore where the glimmering water began its long stretch toward a pale distant horizon. It was a faraway location symbolic of perhaps one of mankind’s greatest quests.  And greatest needs. Freedom. Not just a feeling, but a deeply rooted chord within a man’s being, longing, yearning for emotional singularity—complete and unfettered freedom.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Echo

“And I’m here to tell you none of it matters. None of it. Just love. It’s our only real protection against the world out there. Everything else is just some veiled disguise of meaninglessness. You just have to realize it in time.”
― Michael C. Grumley, The Last Monument

“Purpose alone. The soul’s one and only path for escape from the black hole of true misery. Purpose.”
― Michael C. Grumley, The Desert of Glass

“A lot of men have died for this country.  Good men.  Men of integrity and loyalty.  And men that didn’t deserve to die for a lie.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Ripple

“For me, everything is beginning to boil down to pretty much one thing, one basic ethos.  I think, is what I’m doing actually making things better?”
― Michael C. Grumley, Mosaic

“out as reconnaissance and sabotage actions. This was including the destruction of foreign command posts and communications systems for foreign nuclear guidance programs. And much like the U.S. Special Forces, the Spetsnaz underwent exhaustive psychological and physical training, eventually being left to operate autonomously for days or weeks at a time. As they were now.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Ripple

“What happens to all of us when the world realizes how deep this goes? It’s like discovering extraterrestrials.  Realizing that we really aren’t alone in the universe.  Hell, we’re not even alone on the planet.  We never were.”
― Michael C. Grumley, Catalyst

“Clay nodded again. “I’ll do my best sir.” “Good,” Miller said. “Now, what is it about these dolphins that you wanted to share?”
― Michael C. Grumley, Breakthrough

“Gentlemen,” Langford began, “I’d like you to meet John Clay, Steve Caesare, and Will Borger. They came with me from Investigations.” Silent nods were exchanged while Langford continued. “Clay and Caesare were onsite to examine the Forel. Mr. Borger is our computer expert, trying to figure out exactly what we’re looking at here. Clay, want to start us off?”
― Michael C. Grumley, Leap