Liza

“the value of a game is in abstraction. Many Nirai go in for simulationist approaches, a tendency you share, but sometimes you learn more by throwing details out than coding them all in. You want to get rid of everything nonessential, cook it down to its simplest possible form.”
― Yoon Ha Lee, Ninefox Gambit

“you can’t fight a tremendous, emotion filled drive with cold mathematics. This man Hilder has invented a name, ‘Wasters.’ Slowly he has built this name up into a gigantic conspiracy; a gang of brutal, profit-seeking wretches raping Earth for their own immediate benefit. “He has accused the government of being riddled with them, the Assembly of being dominated by them, the press of being owned by them. None of this, unfortunately, seems ridiculous to the average man. He knows all too well what selfish men can do to Earth’s resources. He knows what happened to Earth’s oil during the Time of Troubles, for instance, and the way topsoil was ruined. “When a fanner experiences a drought, he doesn’t care that the amount of water lost in space flight isn’t a droplet in a fog as far as Earth’s overall water supply is concerned. Hilder has given him something to blame and that’s the strongest possible consolation for disaster. He isn’t going to give that up for a diet of figures.”
― Isaac Asimov, Robot Dreams

“it was A. Petrosyants who in a press conference in Moscow on 6 May 1986, commenting on the Chernobyl tragedy, uttered these words, which astounded many: "Science requires sacrifices.”
― Grigori Medvedev, Chernobyl Notebook

“there is something even higher than the justice which you have been filled with. There is a human impulse known as mercy; a human act known as forgiveness.” “I am not acquainted with those words, partner Elijah.” “I know,” muttered Baley. “I know.”
― Isaac Asimov, The Caves of Steel