This Alien Shore Quotes

“All data leaves a trail. The search for data leaves a trail. The erasure of data leaves a trail. The absence of data, under the right circumstances, can leave the clearest trail of all.”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“The more complex our security becomes, the more complex our enemy’s efforts must be.

The more we seek to shut him out, the better he must learn to become at breaking in.

Each new level of security that we manage becomes no more than a stepping-stone for him who would surpass us, for he bases his next assault upon our best defenses.

It is a ware that can never truly be won… but one we dare not lose.”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“In a world where data is coin of the realm, and transmissions are guarded by no better sentinels than man-made codes and corruptible devices, there is no such thing as a secret.”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“It struck Hsing suddenly that Masada didn't even understand the nature of his own genius. To him the patterns of thought and motive that he sensed in the virus were self-explanatory, and those who could not see them were simply not looking hard enough. Yet he would readily admit to his own inability to analyze more human contact, even on the most basic level. That was part and parcel of being iru.

What a strange combination of skills and flaws. What an utterly alien profile. Praise the founders of Guera for having taught them all to nurture such specialized talent, rather than seeking to "cure" it. It was little wonder that most innovations in technology now came from the Gueran colonies, and that Earth, who set such a strict standard of psychological "normalcy," now produced little that was truly exciting. Thank God their own ancestors had left that doomed planet before they, too, had lost the genes of wild genius. Thank God they had seen the creative holocaust coming, and escaped it.”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“What is true genius, if not the perfect balance of inspiration and perseverance?”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“He was good at ignoring things; it was a skill all iru had. A lifetime of dealing with senses that tended to go haywire had taught him how to shut down the part of his awareness that was causing irritation.”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“God save us from an Earth in which all men are the same. God save us from a colony where that is the goal, or a culture which assumes that for its norm. Give me a thousand people speaking different tongues, worshiping different gods, and dreaming different dreams, and I will make of them a greater nation than you can make with ten thousand of your gengineered duplicates. For mine will have the spark of greatness in them, while yours will live for conformity, worship mediocrity, and take their carefully modulated delight in predigested dreams. Reigning in Chaos: the founding of Guera Colony (Historical Archives, Hellsgate Station)”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“Few watched the human homeworld as she did, which meant there were fewer rivals for her harvests. Her predations. Reijik Station, she mused. Her fingers twitched in their plasteel cage as she wondered what manner of feast this harvest might provide.”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“Connecting to the outernet was less of a shock this time, as the monitor gave him a sense of distance from it, but it was still annoying. How did these people live with such a system, stalked by advertisements and "free" offers and icons that would take you to another site, unasked-for, the moment you gave them your attention? It was like wending your way through an obstacle course. Perhaps after a while you just learned to tune it all out... or perhaps you could buy programs that did it for you. He would have to design himself one of those before he did any more real work on the outernet, though he suspected that the consumer programs which were stalking him were capable of adapting to anything he could turn out quickly.

Advertising: the ultimate predator.

He longed for the simplicity of the Gueran network, which simply did what it was supposed to and no more. When had these people lost touch with the fact that the purpose of a network was to facilitate communication, not impede it?”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“Slice the gray stuff up, Phoenix thinks. Put those circuits in place and give them room to grow and let’s see what the human brain can do with ’em. And you may as well put hinges on that piece of my skull you’re cutting out, ’cause you can bet that when Sitech or Omniware comes up with something new to add, I’ll want that installed, too. You’ve only got one life to live, right? So why waste it on outdated ’ware?”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“The manner in which a man lies can sometimes reveal more of his nature than the truth. C. J. AMBERLEIGH, The Art of Inquisition”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“All data leaves a trail. The search for data leaves a trail. The erasure of data leaves a trail. The absence of data, under the right circumstances, can leave the clearest trail of all. DR. KIO MASADA; “The Enemy Among Us”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“Advertising: the ultimate predator. He longed for the simplicity of the Gueran network, which simply did what it was supposed to and no more. When had these people lost touch with the fact that the purpose of a network was to facilitate communication, not impede it?”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“Was there ever a generation that didn’t enjoy shocking its elders in public? Was there ever a world where adults didn’t shake their heads in frustration, annoyed by the antics of the young, but unable to stop them?”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“And love?” she asked him. “What is love?” He smiled faintly. “Data of the heart.”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“Each new technology will bring with it new forms of crime, demanding innovative security. That is the dynamic which drives our modern progress: not dreams, not ideals, but the simple desire on the part of criminals to take what is not theirs by law, and the determination of others to keep them from doing so. DR. AMY LAN, Brave New Battles”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“At any given time there were more than a billion transmissions buzzing through that darkness, chronicling everything from a grandchild’s first words to the kind of secrets that could unseat governments. Jewels in the darkness.”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“Those who support the concept of a direct interface network don’t take into account the price they would have to pay for it, in privacy and safety and a thousand other areas of concern. Do you really want a machine to know where you are every minute of the day? Do you really trust the people who design these things, and program them, enough to let their work directly into your head? Don’t you realize that every time you let this creature come in contact with your brain, you are leaving your mark upon it as clearly as fingerprints upon glass, which any clever programmer can decipher? MAXWELL ONEGIN; Think Again! (Historical Archives, Hellsgate Station)”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“We are such cold creatures, all of us. Power robs us of our humanity. It’s an ancient formula, hard-wired into our brain cells, and any attempt to circumvent it is an exercise in futility.”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“Let every government see to it that each child is implanted with the tools it needs to communicate, calculate, and process data. Let each government make sure that rich and poor alike, dirtborn and outworlder, Terran and Variant, all have equal access to the outernet and its resources. Let them do that, and we will see something the galaxy has never seen before: a time of true equality, unequaled prosperity, and the kind of conceptual innovation that can only take place when every human being is functioning at peak capacity, 100% of the time. New Horizons: Social implications of Cerebral Technology. (Historical Archives, Hellsgate Station)”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“The iru only seemed more alien than most to him because he was nantana, and all the signals of tone and movement which he relied upon for social intercourse were absent in such a man. Or distorted. Or exaggerated. You couldn’t even try to read such a man beyond the surface, you just took his words at face value and tried not to look any deeper.”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore

“What is true genius, if not the perfect balance of inspiration and perseverence? CHEULGU KIM Ancient Truths for a New Age”
― C.S. Friedman, This Alien Shore