Taylor > Taylor's Quotes

“Welcome...to Jurassic Park!”
― Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park

“You know what's wrong with scientific power?... It's a form of inherited wealth... Most kinds of power require a substantial sacrifice by whoever wants the power. There is an apprenticeship, a discipline lasting many years. Whatever kind of power you want. President of the company. Black belt in karate. Spiritual Guru. Whatever it is you seek, you have to put in the time, the practice, the effort. You must give up a lot to get it. It has to be very important to you. And once you have attained it, it is your power. It can't be given away: it resides in you. It is literally the result of your discipline. Now, what is interesting about this process is that, by the time someone has acquired the ability to his with his bare hands, he has also matured to the point where he won't use it unwisely. So that kind of power has a built-in control. The discipline of the getting the power changes you so that you won't abuse it. But scientific power is like inherited wealth: attained without discipline. You read what others have done, and you take the next step... There is no discipline... no mastery: old scientists are ignored. There is no humility before nature... A karate master does not kill people with his bare hands. He does not lose his temper and kill his wife. The person who kills is the person who has no discipline, no restraint, and who has purchased his power in the form of a Saturday night special. And that is the kind of power that science fosters, and permits.”
― Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park

“And because you can stand on the shoulders of giants, you can accomplish something quickly.”
― Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park

“In the lobby of the visitor center, the glass doors had been shattered, and a cold gray mist blew through the cavernous main hall. A sign that read WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH dangled from one hinge, creaking in the wind.”
― Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park

“The planet has survived everything, in its time. It will certainly survive us.”
― Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park

“There is a problem with that island. It is an accident waiting to happen.”
― Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park

“Because the history of evolution is that life escapes all barriers. Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way.” Malcolm”
― Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park

“Clinging to any form of conservatism can be dangerous. Become too conservative and you are unprepared for surprises. You cannot depend on luck. Logic is blind and often knows only its own past. Logic is good for playing chess but is often too slow for the needs of survival.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Power attracts the corruptible. Suspect any who seek it.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Show me a completely smooth operation and I'll show you someone who's covering mistakes. Real boats rock.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“What does a mirror look at?”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Face your fears or they will climb over your back.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Since every individual is accountable ultimately to the self, the formation of that self demands our utmost care and attention.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Politics: the art of appearing candid and completely open while concealing as much as possible.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Those who would repeat the past must control the teaching of history. —Bene Gesserit Coda”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Moral decisions are always easy to recognize,” Odrade said. “They are where you abandon self-interest.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Beware jargon. It usually hides ignorance and carries little knowledge.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“This is what it means to be human. Try to hold on to youth and it mocks you while it sprints away.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Power attracts the corruptible. Absolute power attracts the absolutely corruptible. This is the danger of entrenched bureaucracy to its subject population. Even spoils systems are preferable because levels of tolerance are lower and the corrupt can be thrown out periodically. Entrenched bureaucracy seldom can be touched short of violence. Beware when Civil Service and Military join hands!”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“We should grant power over our affairs only to those reluctant to hold it, and only under conditions that increase that reluctance.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“To know a thing well, know its limits. Only when pushed beyond its tolerances will true nature be seen.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“The writing of history is largely a process of diversion. Most historical accounts distract attention from the secret influences behind great events.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Enclosures of any kind are a fertile breeding ground for hatred of outsiders,”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Power attracts the corruptible. Absolute power attracts the absolutely corruptible. This is the danger of entrenched bureaucracy to its subject population.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“she must always go the limit. Your abilities will take you farther than you imagine. Don’t imagine, then. Extend yourself!”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Because that way we lay claim to what we name. We assume an ownership that can be misleading and dangerous”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Major flaws in government arise from a fear of making radical internal changes even though a need is clearly seen.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

“Confine yourself to observing and you always miss the point of your own life. The object can be started this way: Live the best life you can. Life is a game whose rules you learn if you leap into it and play it to the hilt. Otherwise, you are caught off balance, continually surprised by the shifting play. Non-players often whine and complain that luck always passes them by. They refuse to see that they can create some of their own luck.”
― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune