Foundation

by Isaac Asimov

It was childish to feel disappointed, but childishness comes almost as naturally to a man as to a child,

The fall of Empire, gentlemen, is a massive thing, however, and not easily fought. It is dictated by a rising bureaucracy, a receding initiative, a freezing of caste, a damming of curiosity – a hundred other factors. It has been going on, as I have said, for centuries, and it is too majestic and massive a movement to stop.

The feeling will pervade the Galaxy that only what a man can grasp for himself at that moment will be of any account. Ambitious men will not wait and unscrupulous men will not hang back. By their every action they will hasten the decay of the worlds.

Hardin, as he sat at the foot of the table, speculated idly as to just what it was that made physical scientists such poor administrators. It might be merely that they were too used to inflexible fact and far too unused to pliable people.

‘Violence,’ came the retort, ‘is the last refuge of the incompetent. But I certainly don’t intend to lay down the welcome mat and brush off the best furniture for their use.’

Your opinions are yours, of course. Still you are rather young.’ Dryly. ‘It is a fault that most people are guilty of at some period of their life.

‘It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.’

‘I suppose I am. At least, I consider violence an uneconomical way of attaining an end. There are always better substitutes, though they may sometimes be a little less direct.’

‘Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!’

“To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise as well.”

There’s no merit in discipline under ideal circumstances. I’ll have it in the face of death, or it’s useless.