Jack McDevitt

"Technological civilizations don’t last long. Youre all right until you get a printing press. Then a race starts between technology and common sense. And maybe technology always wins."

"At night the sea is very loud, And voices ride the tide. At another time, in another place, Beneath the silent moon, We laughed together."

"Yes, it was not journalism’s finest hour. But, MacAllister often argued, it never had been."

"Charlie was not a believer. He did not expect to be called to account and assigned a score for what he had done or left undone. His parents had believed in a mechanical world, a place of evolving hardware and software, no deities need apply. We just haven’t figured it all out yet, his father was fond of saying. Things get more complex and we don’t know why. But that doesn’t mean we have to ascribe it to divine providence."

"So we have progressed to the point where we can move politicians around faster than light. Im not sure I see the advantage."

"One could not always put safety up front as the prime goal. Do that, and who would ever achieve anything of note?"

"“Im not optimistic,” he said. “The issue clearly flies in the face of the First Amendment. People have a right to tell kids whatever they want about religion.” “Do they have a right to push human sacrifice?” “Of course not, Mac. But this isn’t human sacrifice. It’s just a church school.” “Im not sure the effect isn’t similar.”"

"We’re talking about something we all want very much to find. And that automatically makes Ed’s conclusions suspect."

"When do we reach a point where people become responsible for their own actions?"

"Starships, of course, have few limitations with regard to design, the prime specification being simply that they not disintegrate during acceleration or course change."

"“Most of my business comes from picking up the pieces when people get things wrong.” She grinned. “I’ll never lack for work.”"

"He was usually easygoing, one of those guys with little respect for authority because of a conviction that people in charge tend to do stupid things."