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Isaac Asimov

United States writer (born in Russia) noted for his science fiction (1920-1992)

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I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.

– Isaac Asimov

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Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments.

– Isaac Asimov

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No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be. . .

– Isaac Asimov

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One, a robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm Two, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law Three, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

– Isaac Asimov

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I'm not a speed reader. I'm a speed understander.

– Isaac Asimov

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Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.

– Isaac Asimov

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Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.

– Isaac Asimov

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The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka' (I found it) but 'That's funny ...'

– Isaac Asimov

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Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

– Isaac Asimov

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If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster.

– Isaac Asimov

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To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today.

– Isaac Asimov

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I don't believe in an afterlife, so I don't have to spend my whole life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse.

– Isaac Asimov

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Science is a mechanism, a way of trying to improve your knowledge of nature. It's a system for testing your thoughts against the universe, and seeing whether they match.

– Isaac Asimov

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Dalton's records, carefully preserved for a century, were destroyed during the World War II bombing of Manchester. It is not only the living who are killed in war.

– Isaac Asimov

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A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.

– Isaac Asimov

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From my close observation of writers...they fall into two groups 1) those who bleed copiously and visibly at any bad review, and 2) those who bleed copiously and secretly at any bad review.

– Isaac Asimov

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I am not a speed reader. I am a speed understander.

– Isaac Asimov

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I do not fear computers. I fear lack of them.

– Isaac Asimov

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If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.

– Isaac Asimov

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Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today -- but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.

– Isaac Asimov

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It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be. This, in turn, means that our statesmen, our businessmen, our every man must take on a science fictional way of thinking.

– Isaac Asimov

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It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.

– Isaac Asimov

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Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.

– Isaac Asimov

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Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right.

– Isaac Asimov

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No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be. . ..

– Isaac Asimov

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Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.

– Isaac Asimov

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Science can be introduced to children well or poorly. If poorly, children can be turned away from science; they can develop a lifelong antipathy; they will be in a far worse condition than if they had never been introduced to science at all.

– Isaac Asimov

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Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not.

– Isaac Asimov

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Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know -- and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know -- even if the knowledge endures only for the moment that comes before destruction -- than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too.

– Isaac Asimov

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The three fundamental Rules of Robotics...One: a robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm...Two:..a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law...Three: a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First and Second Laws.

– Isaac Asimov

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There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere.

– Isaac Asimov

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University President Why is it that you physicists always require so much expensive equipment Now the Department of Mathematics requires nothing but money for paper, pencils, and erasers...and the Department of Philosophy is better still. It doesn't even ask for erasers.

– Isaac Asimov

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You must keep sending work out you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success - but only if you persist.

– Isaac Asimov

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