Record of a Spaceborn Few Quotes

“From the ground, we stand. From our ships, we live. By the stars, we hope.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“Our species doesn’t operate by reality. It operates by stories. Cities are a story. Money is a story. Space was a story, once. A king tells us a story about who we are and why we’re great, and that story is enough to make us go kill people who tell a different story. Or maybe the people kill the king because they don’t like his story and have begun to tell themselves a different one.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“The guilt lingered, even so. Ghosts were imaginary, but hauntings were real.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“We are a longstanding species with a very short memory. If we don’t keep record, we’ll make the same mistakes over and over again.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“The only way to really appreciate your way is to compare it to somebody else's way. Figure out what you love, specifically. In detail. Figure out what you want to keep. Figure out what you want to change. Otherwise, it's not love. It's clinging to the familiar--to the comfortable--and that's a dangerous thing for us short-term thinkers to do. If you stay, stay because you want to, because you've found something here worth embodying, because you believe in it. Otherwise...well, there's no point in being here at all, is there?”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“Figure out what you love, specifically. In detail. Figure out what you want to keep. Figure out what you want to change. Otherwise, it’s not love. It’s clinging to the familiar”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“Kip cleared his throat and gave a brave smile. ‘We destroyed our world,’ he said, ‘and left it for the skies. Our numbers were few. Our species had scattered. We were the last to leave. We left the ground behind. We left the oceans. We left the air. We watched these things grow small. We watched them shrink into a point of light. As we watched, we understood. We understood what we were. We understood what we had lost. We understood what we would need to do to survive. We abandoned more than our ancestors’ world. We abandoned our short sight. We abandoned our bloody ways. We made ourselves anew.’ He spread his hands, encompassing the gathered. ‘We are the Exodus Fleet. We are those that wandered, that wander still. We are the homesteaders that shelter our families. We are the miners and foragers in the open. We are the ships that ferry between. We are the explorers who carry our names. We are the parents who lead the way. We are the children who continue on.’ He picked up his scrib from the podium. ‘What is his name?”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“From the stars, came the ground. From the ground, we stood. To the ground, we return”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“We are the wealthiest species alive today. We want for nothing. Without us, there would be no tunnels, no ambi, no galactic map. But we achieved these things through subjugation. Violence. We destroyed entire worlds - entire species. It took a galactic war to stop us. We learned. We apologized. We changed. But we can't give back the things we took. We're still benefiting from them, and others are still suffering from actions centuries old. So, are we worthy? We, who give so much only because we took so much?”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“If you never leave, you'll always wonder.  You'll wonder what your life could've been, if you did the right thing. Well... scratch that. You'll always wonder if you did the right thing, no matter what your decision is, big or small.  There's always another path you'll wonder about.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“My own research methodology professor phrased this concept succinctly: learn nothing of your subjects, and you will disrupt them. Learn something of your subjects, and you will disrupt them.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“We're our own warning.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“We’re made out of our ancestors. They’re what keep us alive.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“Academic prowess and base intelligence are two separate things.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“What was better – a constant safeness that never grew and never changed, or a life of reaching, building, striving, even though you knew you’d never be completely satisfied?”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“I am seventy-nine years old. If I want dessert twice ... I get dessert twice.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“Knowledge should always be free,’ she said. ‘What people do with it is up to them.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“Amias Mitchell,’ Kip said. ‘Born aboard the Asteria. Forty Solar days of age as of GC standard day 211/310. He is now, and always, a member of our Fleet. By our laws, he is assured shelter and passage here. If we have food, he will eat. If we have air, he will breathe. If we have fuel, he will fly. He is son to all grown, brother to all still growing. We will care for him, protect him, guide him. We welcome you, Amias, to the decks of the Asteria, and to the journey we take together.’ He spoke the final words now, and the room joined him. ‘From the ground, we stand. From our ships, we live. By the stars, we hope.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“We’re meant to go. And we’re meant to stay. Stay and go, each as much as the other. It’s not all or nothing anymore. We’re all over the place. That’s better, I think. That’s smarter.’ He nodded. ‘That’s how we’ll survive, even if not all of us do.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“What that perspective is, I have no idea. But you’ll find one. Otherwise, you’ll only ever think about other people in the abstract. That’s a poisonous thing, thinking your way is all there is.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“Our species doesn’t operate by reality. It operates by stories. Cities are a story. Money is a story. Space was a story, once. A king tells us a story about who we are and why we’re great, and that story is enough to make us go kill people who tell a different story. Or maybe the people kill the king because they don’t like his story and have begun to tell themselves a different one. When our planet started dying, our species was so caught up in stories. We had thousands of stories about ourselves – that’s still true, don’t forget that for a minute – but not enough of us were looking at the reality of things. Once reality caught up with us and we started changing our stories to acknowledge it, it was too late.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“Our species doesn't operate by reality. It operates by stories.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“We abandoned our short sight. We abandoned our bloody ways. We made ourselves anew.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“Rarely in history had things turned out well for people who chose to lock themselves away”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“From the stars, came the ground. From the ground, we stood. To the ground, we return.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“Was there any day for her that would not involve the same schedule, the same faces, the same tasks? What was better –a constant safeness that never grew and never changed, or a life of reaching, building, striving, even though you knew you’d never be completely satisfied?”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“We destroyed our world,’ she said, ‘and left it for the skies. Our numbers were few. Our species had scattered. We were the last to leave. We left the ground behind. We left the oceans. We left the air. We watched these things grow small. We watched them shrink into a point of light. As we watched, we understood. We understood what we were. We understood what we had lost. We understood what we would need to do to survive. We abandoned more than our ancestors’ world. We abandoned our short sight. We abandoned our bloody ways. We made ourselves anew.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“Ghosts were imaginary, but hauntings were real.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“In the grand tradition of siblings everywhere, Tessa wanted to kill her brother. Not permanently kill him. Just a casual spacing to get her point across, followed by a quick resurrection and a hot cup of tea.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few

“learn nothing of your subjects, and you will disrupt them. Learn something of your subjects, and you will disrupt them.”
― Becky Chambers, Record of a Spaceborn Few