D.L. Orton > D.L.'s Quotes

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
― Robert A. Heinlein

“Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.”
― Margaret Atwood

“She's evil. Evil, evil, evil. I want to see her naked.”
― Christopher Moore, Bloodsucking Fiends

“The human eye is a wonderful device. With a little effort, it can fail to see even the most glaring injustice.”
― Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon

“The world is your exercise book, the pages on which you do your sums. It is not reality, though you may express reality there if you wish. You are also free to write lies, or nonsense, or to tear the pages.”
― Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

“A woman’s magazine quiz:

Question: You decide to do the dread deed and just as things are starting to get hot he comes, rolls over, and asks, “Was it good for you?”

You:
a. Say, “God, yes! That was the best seventeen seconds of my life”
b. Say, “Sure, as good as it gets for me with a man.”
c. Put a Certs in your navel and say, “That’s for you, Mr. Bunnyman. You can have it on your way back up, after the job is finished”
― Christopher Moore, Bloodsucking Fiends

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
― Arthur C. Clarke, Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible

“[The Universe] does not care, and even with all our science there are some disasters that we can not avert. All evil and good is petty before nature. Personally, we take comfort from this, that there is a universe to admire that can not be twisted to villainy or good, but which simply is.”
― Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep

“She could hear wisps of fog brushing against the buildings like wet velvet.”
― Christopher Moore, Bloodsucking Fiends

“The species greatest harvest ― words.”
― David Brin, Earth

“In my life I have found two things of priceless worth - learning and loving. Nothing else - not fame, not power, not achievement for its own sake - can possible have the same lasting value. For when your life is over, if you can say 'I have learned' and 'I have loved,' you will also be able to say 'I have been happy.”
― Arthur C. Clarke, Rama II

“God save us from people who mean well.”
― Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy

“Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Stephenie Meyer: Her vampires are sparkly, which I think we can all agree is wrong.”
― Christopher Moore

“Being in love is…anxious,” he said. “Wanting to please, worrying that she will see me as I really am. But wanting to be known. That is…you’re naked, moaning in the dark, no dignity at all…I wanted her to see me and to love me even though she knew everything I am, and I knew her.”
― Audrey Niffenegger, Her Fearful Symmetry

“So where were we?”
“I was stepping back,” he says, “and you were chastising me for it.”
I chuckle. “Ah yes. So, shall I take matters into my own hands, or do you have the proper tool for the job?” I kiss his palm and then glance down at the lump in his towel.
“Well, miss.” His voice has a slight southern twang. “A skilled lawman knows how to choose the right tool for the job, and that—” He motions with his head, “—is not the one I plan to use right now. Sorry to disappoint.”
“I hate it when you get cocky.”
― D.L. Orton, Crossing in Time

“Minutes turn into hours, and lifetimes into moments. Universes are created and destroyed with nary a pop. What was saved, no longer ex- ists. What was lost, no longer matters.”
― D.L. Orton, Crossing in Time

“Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.”
― anthony burgess

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”
― Arthur C. Clarke

“Oh, come on. Drama is just life with the dull bits cut out.”
“Well, I’m ready for a long patch of boredom.”
― D.L. Orton, Crossing in Time

“It occurs to me that our survival may depend upon our talking to one another.”
― Dan Simmons, Hyperion

“If you can't be kind, at least be vague.”
― Judith Martin

“Charming villains have always had a decided social advantage over well-meaning people who chew with their mouths open.
”
― Judith Martin

“It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.”
― Judith Martin

“It is, indeed, a trial to maintain the virtue of humility when one can't help being right.”
― Judith Martin

“DEAR MISS MANNERS:
When does a gentleman offer his arm to a lady as they are walking down the street together?

GENTLE READER:
Strictly speaking, only when he can be practical assisstance to her. That is, when the way is steep, dark, crowded, or puddle-y. However, it is rather a cozy juxtapostion, less comprising than walking hand in hand, and rather enjoyable for people who are fond of each other, so Miss Manners allows some leeway in interpreting what is of practical assisstance. One wouldn't want a lady to feel unloved walking down the street, any more than one would want her to fall of the curb.”
― Judith Martin

“We are all born rude. No infant has ever appeared yet with the grace to understand how inconsiderate it is to disturb others in the middle of the night.”
― Judith Martin, Common Courtesy: In Which Miss Manners Solves the Problem That Baffled Mr. Jefferson

“Educate the children and it won't be necessary to punish the men.”
― Pythagoras

“Any idiot can be liked. It takes talent to scare the crap out of people"-”
― Alison Arngrim

“It is not hard to fool people when they do not want to know the truth.”
― Kim Wright, City of Light