Murray Leinster Quotes & Sayings

The hearts of the rich are hardened. The existence of the poor is a reproach to them." But — Murray Leinster

every man took himself seriously and did not quite believe that the universe had existed before he was born or would long survive his loss. Time — Murray Leinster

It isn't illegal to buy an artist's work for peanuts and sell it again at any price one can get. But it is an outrage! — Murray Leinster

The secret of getting along with people is that of postponing quarrels. — Murray Leinster

The most difficult of enterprises is to secure the cooperation of others in enterprises those others did not think of first. — Murray Leinster

It was a symptom of the insanity of human beings in a cosmos obviously designed for them to live in, but which they industriously prepare to make unlivable. — Murray Leinster

Hoddan began suddenly to see real possibilities. This was not a direct move toward the realization of his personal ambitions. But on the other hand, it wasn't a movement away from them. Hoddan suddenly remembered an oration he'd heard his grandfather give many, many times in the past.
"Straight thinkin'," the old man had said obstinately, "is a delusion. You think things out clear and simple, and you can see yourself ruined and your family starving any day! But real things ain't simple! They ain't clear! Any time you try to figure things out so they're simple and straightforward, you're goin' against nature and you're going to get 'em mixed up! So when something happens and you're in a straightforward, hopeless fix - why, you go along with nature! Make it as complicated as you can, and the people who want you in trouble will get hopeless confused and you can get out! — Murray Leinster

I've never noticed that being nonsensical keeps things from happening. Don't you ever read about politics? — Murray Leinster

Nothing," snapped Howell, "that a man can imagine is impossible! — Murray Leinster

Children and barbarians have clear ideas of justice due to them, but no idea at all of justice due from them. — Murray Leinster

There is never a rational reason for a man to rejoice that a certain pretty girl exists and that he has found her. The experience, however, is universal. — Murray Leinster

Then everything was normal again, except that the liner was speeding for the planet Krim at something more than thirty times the speed of light. Normality extended through all the galaxy so far inhabited by men. There were worlds on which there was peace, and worlds on which there was tumult. There were busy, zestful young worlds, and languid, weary old ones. From the Near Rim to the farthest of occupied systems, planets circled their suns, and men lived on them, and every man took himself seriously and did not quite believe that the universe had existed before he was born or would long survive his loss. Time passed. Comets let out vast streamers like bridal veils and swept toward and around their suns. Some of them - one in ten thousand, or twenty - were possibly seen by human eyes. The liner bearing Hoddan sped through the void. In time it made a landfall on the Planet Krim. — Murray Leinster

No man can be fully efficient if he expects praise or appreciation for what he does. — Murray Leinster

The whole purpose of civilization is to take the surprises out of life, so one can be bored to death — Murray Leinster

He had a stellar talent. I not only lost a contemporary in the death of Robert E. Howard. The world lost a writer of extraordinary gifts. — Murray Leinster

Adventure is the point where you toss your life on the scales of chance and wait for the pointer to stop. — Murray Leinster

We do not like the idea that any other creature can be better than we are. It is highly probable that if we ever have to face a superior race, we will die of it. — Murray Leinster

Facts are facts! And if they're impossible, they're still facts! — Murray Leinster

It was totally unrealistic to think that because there had been wildly unlikely coincidences in the immediate past, that there would be more wildly unlikely ones turning up in orderly succession. Yet ... — Murray Leinster

Hoddan swore from the depths of a very considerable vocabulary. "You (censored) - (deleted) - (omitted) - (unprintability)", he roared. — Murray Leinster