The Postman Quotes

“It's said that 'power corrupts,' but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“Freedom was wonderful beyond relief. But with it came that bitch, Duty.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“The greedy and the power-hungry will always look for ways to break the rules, or twist them to their advantage.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“Men can be brilliant and strong, they whispered to one another. But men can be mad, as well. And the mad ones can ruin the world.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“Of course we can establish constitutional checks and balances, but those won’t mean a thing unless citizens make sure the safeguards are taken seriously. The greedy and the power-hungry will always look for ways to break the rules, or twist them to their advantage.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“It was called ‘the Big Lie’ technique, Johnny. Just sound like you know what you’re talking about—as if you’re citing real facts. Talk very fast. Weave your lies into the shape of a conspiracy theory and repeat your assertions over and over again. Those who want an excuse to hate or blame—those with big but weak egos—will leap at a simple, neat explanation for the way the world is. Those types will never call you on the facts.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“Where is it written that one should only care about big things? I fought for big things, long ago… for issues, principles, a country. Where are all of them now?... I found out something, you know. I discovered that the big things don’t love you back. They take and take, and never give in return. They’ll drain your blood, your soul, if you let them, and never let go.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“How can we set up a system which encourages individuals to strive and excel, and yet which shows some compassion to the weak, and weeds out madmen and tyrants?”
― David Brin, The Postman

“Men can be brilliant and strong, they whispered to one another. But men can be mad, as well. And the mad ones can ruin the world.
Women, you must judge them . . .
Never again can things be allowed to reach this pass, they said to one another as they thought of the sacrifice the Scouts had made.
Never again can we let the age-old fight go on between good and bad men alone.
Women, you must share responsibility . . . and bring your own talents into the
struggle . . .
And always remember, the moral concluded: Even the best men--the heroes--will sometimes neglect to do their jobs.
Women, you must remind them, from time to time . . .”
― David Brin, The Postman

“He approached the great glass barrier dividing the room, and the speaker at the end of the table. "Cyclops?" he whispered, stepping closer, clearing his tight throat, "Cyclops, it's me, Gordon."
The glow in the pearly lens was subdued. But the row of little lights still flashed--a complex pattern that repeated over and over like an urgent message from a distant ship in some lost code--ever, hypnotically, the same.
Gordon felt a frantic dread rise within him, as when, during his boyhood, he had encountered his grandfather lying perfectly still on the porch swing, and feared to find that the beloved old man had died.
The pattern of lights repeated, over and over.
Gordon wondered. How many people would recall, after the hell of the last seventeen years, that the parity displays of a great supercomputer never repeated themselves? Gordon remembered a cyberneticist friend telling him the patterns of light were like snowflakes, none ever the same as any other.
"Cyclops," he said evenly, "Answer me! I demand you answer--in the name of decency! In the name of the United St--"
He stopped. He couldn't bring himself to meet this lie with another. Here, the only living mind he would fool would be himself.
The room was warmer than it had seemed during his interview. He looked for, and found, the little vents through which cool air could be directed at a visitor seated in the guest chair, giving an impression of great cold just beyond the glass wall.
"Dry ice," he muttered, "to fool the citizens of Oz.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“Snow and soot covered the ancient tree's broken branches and seared bark. It wasn't dead, not quite yet. Here and there tiny shoots of green struggled to emerge, but they weren't doing well. The end was near.
A shadow loomed, and a creature settled into the drifts, and old, wounded thing of the skies, as near death as the tree.
Pinions drooping, it laboriously began building a nest--a place of dying. Stick by stick, it pecked among the ruined wood on the ground, piling the bits higher until it was clear that it was not a nest at all.
It was a pyre.
The bloody, dying thing settled in atop the kindling, and crooned soft music unlike anything ever heard before. A glow began to build, surrounding the beast soon in a rich purple lambience. Blue flames burst forth.
And the tree seemed to respond. Aged, ruined branches curled forward toward the heat, like an old man warming his hands. Snow shivered and fell, the green patches grew and began to fill the air with the fragrance of renewal
It was not the creature on the pyre that was reborn, and even in sleep, that surprised Gordon. The great bird was consumed, leaving only bones.
But the tree blossomed, and from its flowering branches things uncurled and drifted off into the air.
He stared in wonderment when he saw that they were balloons, airplanes, and rocket ships. Dreams.
They floated away in all directions, and the air was filled with hope.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“I found out something, you know. I discovered that the big things don’t love you back. They take and take, and never give in return. They’ll drain your blood, your soul, if you let them, and never let go.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“Where is it written that one should only care about big things?”
― David Brin, The Postman

“I’ve put some thought to it. How can we set up a system which encourages individuals to strive and excel, and yet which shows some compassion to the weak, and weeds out madmen and tyrants?”
― David Brin, The Postman

“A new legend swept Oregon, from Roseburg all the way north to the Columbia, from the mountains to the sea. It traveled by letter and by word of mouth, growing with each telling.
It was a sadder story than the two that had come before it--those speaking of a wise, benevolent machine and of a reborn nation. It was more disturbing than those. And yet this new fable had one important element its predecessors lacked.
It was true.
The story told of a band of forty women--crazy women, many contended--who had shared among themselves a secret vow; to do anything and everything to end a terrible war, and end it before all the good men died trying to save them.
They acted out of love, some explained. Others said they did it for their country.
There was even a rumor that the women had looked on their odyssey to Hell as a form of penance, in order to make up for some past failing of womankind.
Interpretations varied, but the overall moral was always the same, whether spread by word of mouth or by U.S. Mail. From hamlet to village to farmstead, mothers and daughter and wives read the letters and listened to the words--and passed them on.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“Men can be brilliant and strong, they whispered to one another. But men can be mad, as well. And the mad ones can ruin the world. Women, you must judge them… Never again can things be allowed to reach this pass, they said to one another as they thought of the sacrifice the Scouts had made. Never again can we let the age-old fight go on between good and bad men alone. Women, you must share responsibility…and bring your own talents into the struggle… And always remember, the moral concluded: Even the best men – the heroes – will sometimes neglect to do their jobs. Women, you must remind them, from time to time…”
― David Brin, The Postman

“The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“Leaving was out of the question, of course. A combination of pride, obstinacy, and simple gonadal fury rooted him in his tracks. Here he would do battle, and that was that.”
― David Brin, The Postman

“Mais les tyrans potentiels… ceux qui disposent d’une panoplie de méthodes éprouvées depuis des siècles pour manipuler l’homme du commun, pour lui mentir, pour lui ôter toute confiance en soi. On dit que « tout pouvoir corrompt », mais il serait plus proche de la vérité de dire que le pouvoir attire ceux qui sont susceptibles d’être corrompus. Les gens sains d’esprit sont, d’ordinaire, attirés par autre chose que par le pouvoir. Lorsqu’il leur faut agir, ils conçoivent leur action comme un service rendu, ce qui impose des limites à leur entreprise même. Le tyran, lui, veut dominer par tous les moyens ; il est insatiable dans la poursuite de son but.”
― David Brin, Le Facteur

“nous pouvons nous doter de garanties constitutionnelles, établir une stricte répartition des pouvoirs, mais de telles mesures ne prennent un sens que lorsque les citoyens assurent que ces garde-fous soient respectés. Or, ceux qui ont soif de puissance et d’argent sont sans cesse à l’affût d’un moyen de violer les lois ou de les tourner à leur avantage.”
― David Brin, Le Facteur

“Comment se fait-il, même, qu’il y ait eu des gens pour y croire ? Gordon haussa les épaules. — Ça s’appelait la technique du « gros mensonge », Johnny. Il suffit de donner l’impression qu’on sait de quoi on parle… de se contenter de citer des faits. Et puis de parler très vite. Tu entrelardes tes bobards de sorte qu’ils aient l’air de révéler l’existence d’un complot et tu martèles ça sur tous les tons. Ceux qui cherchent un prétexte, pour haïr ou pour mépriser – ceux qui ont un ego boursouflé, mais faible au fond –, s’empressent d’adopter ces explications toutes faites. Il ne leur vient pas à l’idée de soumettre la théorie à l’épreuve des faits. Hitler faisait ça très bien. Le Mystique de Leningrad aussi. Holn n’a été que leur brillant successeur dans l’art du « gros mensonge ».”
― David Brin, Le Facteur

“d’un homme qui a perdu tout ce qu’il aimait et qui, depuis, n’est plus tout à fait de ce monde.”
― David Brin, Le Facteur

“À l’intérieur, il se sentait un creux immense et douloureux, comme s’il avait eu le cœur pris dans un étau de glace. Rien ne semblait pouvoir bouger en lui, au risque de briser quelque chose de chancelant, de précaire.”
― David Brin, Le Facteur

“We have earned our peace. It is, by now, more precious than honor, or even pity.”
― David Brin, The Postman