The Demolished Man Quotes

“Be grateful that you only see the outward man. Be grateful that you never see the passions, the hatreds, the jealousies, the malice, the sicknesses... Be grateful you rarely see the frightening truth in people.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“The mind is the reality. You are what you think.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“Eight, sir; seven, sir;
Six, sir; five, sir;
Four, sir; Three, sir;
Two, sir; one!
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tension, apprehension,
And dissension have begun.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“If a man's got talent and guts to buck society, he's obviously above average. You want to hold on to him. You straighten him out and turn him into a plus value. Why throw him away? Do that enough and all you've got left are the sheep.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“In the endless universe there has been nothing new, nothing different. What has appeared exceptional to the minute mind of man has been inevitable to the infinite Eye of God. This strange second in a life, that unusual event, those remarkable coincidences of environment, opportunity, and encounter … all of them have been reproduced over and over on the planet of a sun whose galaxy revolves once in two hundred million years and has revolved nine times already. There has been joy. There will be joy again.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“It was not exasperation.... It was anger for the relentless force of evolution that insisted on endowing man with increased powers without removing the vestigial vices that prevented him from using them.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“Listen,” he cried in exaltation. “Listen, normals! You must learn what it is. You must learn how it is. You must tear the barriers down. You must tear the veils away. We see the truth you cannot see … That there is nothing in man but love and faith, courage and kindness, generosity and sacrifice. All else is only the barrier of your blindness. One day we’ll all be mind to mind and heart to heart …”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“Listen, normals! You must learn what it is. You must learn how it is. You must tear the barriers down. You must tear the veils away. We see the truth you cannot see... That there is nothing in man but love and faith, courage and kindness, generosity and sacrifice. All else is only the barrier of your blindness. One day we'll all be mind to mind and heart to heart...”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“Be grateful you’re not a peeper, sir. Be grateful that you only see the outward man. Be grateful that you never see the passions, the hatreds, the jealousies, the malice, the sicknesses … Be grateful you rarely see the frightening truth in people.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“I'm treating you like a relative. I don't pay enough for the privilege.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“Now don't warp your orbit, Mac.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“Number 99 was an eviscerated ceramics plant. During the war a succession of blazing explosions had burst among the stock of thousands of chemical glazes, fused them, and splashed them into a wild rainbow reproduction of a lunar crater. Great splotches of magenta, violet, bice green, burnt umber, and chrome yellow were burned into the stone walls. Long streams of orange, crimson, and imperial purple had erupted through windows and doors to streak the streets and surrounding ruins with slashing brush strokes. This became the Rainbow House of Chooka Frood.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“There is no sun.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“Century also had shelves of obsolete printed books.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“The law makes the silliest damned fuss about death. People die by the thousands everyday; but simply because someone has had the energy and enterprise to assist old D'Courtney to his demise, the law insists on turning him into an enemy of the people. I think it's idiotic, but please don't quote me.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“LABİRENTİ ORTADAN KALDIR.
KARMAŞIK YOLLARI YIK.
BİLMECEYİ SİL.
(x² o y³ uzay/d! zaman)
DAĞIT
(eylemler, ifadeler, etkenler, bölümler, güçler, örnekler, köktenciler, özdeşlikler, denklemler, diziler, çeşitlemeler, permütasyonlar, determinantlar ve çözümler)
YOK ET.
(elektron, proton, nötron, meson ve foton)
SİL.
(cayley, henson, lillienthal, chanute, langley, wright, turnbul ve s&erson)
BOZUP ÇIKAR.
(nebulalar, kümeler, akıntılar, ikililer, devler, ana diziler ve ak cüceler)
YAY.
(balıklar, amfibiler, kuşlar, memeliler ve insan)
ORTADAN KALDIR.
YIK.
SİL.
DAĞIT.
BÜTÜN EŞİTLİKLERİ SİL.
SONSUZLUK EŞİTTİR SIFIR.
ARTIK YOK-”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“Make your enemies by choice, he muttered, not by accident.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“İnsana fazla güç verip bunları kullanmasına engel olan işlevini kaybetmiş kusurlarını ortadan kaldırmayan, aman bilmez evrim gücüne öfkelenmişti.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man

“Here were the somatic messages that fed the cauldron; cell reactions by the incredible billion, organic cries, the muted drone of muscletone, sensory sub-currents, blood-flow, the wavering superheterodyne of blood pH ... all whirling and churning in the balancing pattern that formed the girl's psyche. The never-ending make-and-break of synapses contributed a crackling hail of complex rhythms. Packed in the changing interstices were broken images, half-symbols, partial references ... The ionised nuclei of thought.”
― Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man