Peter F. Hamilton Quotes & Sayings

It was always a puzzle, given that he spent his days achieving nothing, that he had no time for anything. — Peter F. Hamilton

I grew up on a farm," Ayanna protested. "We worked the land." She pulled a face. "Well, I helped Dad program the agribots. — Peter F. Hamilton

Life's a bitch, then you rejuvenate and do it all over again. — Peter F. Hamilton

Ian kept his brain in his dick, — Peter F. Hamilton

I'm an appropriate companion personality for a girl your age, young missy. We spent all night ransacking that library to see what I should be like. You got any idea what it's like watching eight million hours of Disney AVs? — Peter F. Hamilton

I believe that intelligence and rationality will always be primary no matter what shape sentient creatures take. To not think that would be to doubt the value of life itself. — Peter F. Hamilton

Three hundred and twenty-eight wormholes were opened in unison. They were small, all of them measuring a metre and a half wide. Just enough for a ten-megatonne warhead to pass through. The wormholes closed. — Peter F. Hamilton

We spend most of our lives in relationships or bringing up children which are a product of relationships. — Peter F. Hamilton

rationalize that as something else — Peter F. Hamilton

As if we didn't have enough weapons already. But that's human nature, we've always got to go one better, to increase the terror another notch. — Peter F. Hamilton

It is the epitome of entropy, the final enemy of all things. — Peter F. Hamilton

We're on Earth, now, remember. You can do anything you want here as long as you've got money. — Peter F. Hamilton

I doubt any system that won't reveal its purpose, that only offers promises of a better tomorrow. — Peter F. Hamilton

Violence: the brutish solution of the ignorant who know they could never get enough people to vote for them. — Peter F. Hamilton

Humans can do anything if they have enough determination. And knowledge. Knowledge is the key to everything. — Peter F. Hamilton

The sun was boiling, the swaying was uncomfortable, the horse stank. She felt wonderful — Peter F. Hamilton

Interpretation though the filters of ideology has always been one of our race's curses. — Peter F. Hamilton

How many twenty-second-century bureaucrats did it take to change a light panel?
We'll have a sub-committee meeting and get back to you with an estimate. — Peter F. Hamilton

So how big an interest have you been taking in the Pilgrimage?' 'Big. That idiot Ethan really could trigger the end of the galaxy. I'd have to move.' 'How terrible. — Peter F. Hamilton

Only people with one short life want to go tearing out into the great unknown with nothing more than a flashlight and a stick to poke the rattlers with. — Peter F. Hamilton

The penalty for a long life is increasing resistance to change. — Peter F. Hamilton

This is the age of total digitalisation; everything is online always.'
'Uh huh, and that's why our politicians are pure and clean, and the world works so well, is it? Because everybody knows everything and there's no hiding place. — Peter F. Hamilton

Kelly was starting to have serious second thoughts about the whole assignment. Like all war correspondents, she supposed. Being on the ground was very different to sitting in the office anticipating being on the ground. Especially with the appearance of that red cloud. — Peter F. Hamilton

Without education and understanding, the barbarians would have outnumbered us and swarmed the city gates a long time ago. — Peter F. Hamilton

The ubiquitous semi-sentient utility routine running in her macrocellular clusters responded immediately by unfolding a basic array of mental icons, slender lines of blue fairy light that superimposed themselves within her wobbly vision. She frowned. If she was reading their efficiency modes correctly, her biononics had — Peter F. Hamilton

Once you have extrapolated the effects a particular science will have on society - cheap clean energy, rejuvenation - the political impact is quite easy to predict. The two are twinned. — Peter F. Hamilton

Another religious fanatic to whom facts and reality took second place to dogma. — Peter F. Hamilton

Is Vermillion damaged?' 'No.' He gave her an anxious grin. 'Not exactly. Just lost.' 'Lost?' It was possibly an even more worrying answer. How could you get lost flying to a star cluster that measured twenty thousand lightyears in diameter? It wasn't as if you could lose sight of something of that magnitude. 'That's ridiculous.' 'The captain will explain. Let's get you to the bridge. — Peter F. Hamilton

I don't get it. There's nothing here. Send your invasion force halfway across the galaxy so they can build a five star ski resort? That's crazy. — Peter F. Hamilton

Meteorites fell through the night sky like a gentle sleet of icefire, — Peter F. Hamilton

There will always be people treated badly, which I feel is basic human nature and difficult to eliminate. — Peter F. Hamilton

Genuine scientific progress is a slow climb, which requires a stable society to support thinkers and theorists over many generations. — Peter F. Hamilton

Consciousness is just a window into time. — Peter F. Hamilton

Aldersgate Street, the bottom of the A1 - which was the modern designation of the original Great North Road, built by the Romans two thousand years ago to march its garrisons to the very edge of the empire three hundred miles to the north. Their duty was to reinforce Hadrian's Wall, keeping the outer darkness at bay and the empire safe. — Peter F. Hamilton

Lawyers had abolished the simple concept of right and wrong, turning it into degrees of guilt. — Peter F. Hamilton

You cannot impose ideologies on people who do not embrace it wholeheartedly. — Peter F. Hamilton

Think of it as an eight-dimensional onion.' Justine straightened her back and gave her father an exasperated look. 'Thanks, Dad. That's helpful. I always think in those terms, it really helps a lot. — Peter F. Hamilton

The original castle back in Edinburgh was the seat of Scottish nationalism. It symbolized everything to the diehard believers. Despite all the changes and defeats they endured, the castle stood solid at the center of their capital. They waited for generations for the Scottish nation to be properly reborn after their Bonnie Prince was lost. There were times when the cause seemed impossible, or even cursed; they regained their independence from the English only to lose it again right away with the formation of Federal Europe. — Peter F. Hamilton

The whole point of science fiction is that you explore the effect of ideas on a society. — Peter F. Hamilton

Memories do not hurt, they only influence. — Peter F. Hamilton

You convinced yourselves we're just a bunch of regular lads who got a bad break in life. Anything else would have cracked your dream open and made you face reality. Illusion is easy. Illusion is the loser's way out. Your way. — Peter F. Hamilton

They would have thought me mad, even Kristabel. Flying carriages. People who live forever. Hundreds of inhabited worlds. Machine servants instead of genistars. Cities where Makkathran would be naught but a small district. A civilization where justice was available to all. Aliens. More stars in the sky than it is possible to count. No, such marvels of my fevered imagination were best kept inside my skull. — Peter F. Hamilton

You've no idea how wonderful toilet paper is until it's taken away from you by an unfeeling universe. I think it's the defining characteristic of human civilization, the ability to manufacture something decent to wipe your ass on. — Peter F. Hamilton

Once you've achieved everything, there is nothing left. You take out the core of being human: the striving. — Peter F. Hamilton

She couldn't organize an orgy in a brothel. — Peter F. Hamilton

Alert Five Chikoya approaching, open assault formation. Multiple target acquisition. Armed Disruptor pulse. Maximum power rating. Sequential fire. U-shadow update: landing exit capsule behind Building-D. Armed Neutron lasers. Maximum power rating. Sequential fire. U-shadow update: decoy capsules on collision vector. Mach eight. Accelerating. Armed Microkinetics. Enhanced explosive warheads. Free fire authority. Armed Ariel smartseeker stealth mines. Chikoya profile loaded. Dispense. Alert New targets. — Peter F. Hamilton

The human race, for all our facets and our institutional stupidity, is something I believe in. I admire our diversity, our stubbornness. The dynamic of conflict is one of our greatest traits. — Peter F. Hamilton

He never did understand why people admired or even collected art. The greatest human artist could never hope to match what nature did with a single flower. — Peter F. Hamilton

That's just to start?' 'Yeah.' 'Giu. So what happens after that?' 'Whatever needs to happen. That's the whole point of being strategic. — Peter F. Hamilton

I haven't yet written a book in a far-future utopia, where all bad things are eliminated, but it would be fun to do that one day and introduce some subversion. — Peter F. Hamilton

Funny how different life could be, so many things that make you take one route instead of another. If only we could live them all. — Peter F. Hamilton

Weapons science was always kept very close to the government's chest, receiving the most funds and the least publicity. — Peter F. Hamilton

The balance is the penalty of being human: the danger of allowing yourself to feel. For this we walk a narrow path high above rocky ground. On one side we have the descent into animalism, on the other a godhead delusion. Both pulling at us, both tempting. But without these forces tugging at your psyche, stirring it into conflict, you can never love. They awaken us, you see, these warring sides, they arouse our passion. — Peter F. Hamilton

Don't worry. The chaps train for civil disobedience suppression. We'll crack a few heads, chuck some of the would-be revolutionaries in jail, and the rest will slink off back to their hovels and drink themselves stupid all night. And if worse comes to worst, well, we've got all the guns, haven't we? — Peter F. Hamilton

Sometimes you have to do what's wrong in order to do what's right. — Peter F. Hamilton

Life alone is precious, but conscious thought is the greatest gift the universe offers. — Peter F. Hamilton

Let's see how long the rich can eat their money for — Peter F. Hamilton

Computers aren't smart, just fast. Garbage in, garbage out. — Peter F. Hamilton

This desperate act was inevitable. This act is a direct result of the oppression, both political and economic, imposed by our government. You crush hope. Yes, you! You destroy opportunity. You eradicate dignity. You do all that so you may maintain your filthy bigoted anti-democratic society. You leave the rest of us no choice. We are not allowed to protest. — Peter F. Hamilton

Societies only have waste products while acquiring fresh raw material remains a cheaper option than recycling. — Peter F. Hamilton

The dead hand of society's inertia and the financial interest of the elite minority hold us back as a species. They govern us so they can continue to govern us. — Peter F. Hamilton

The Silverbird was tracking the Raiel's gas giant-sized DF spheres as they continued their flight across the star system. Gravity waves spilled out from them with astonishing force, distorting the orbits within the main asteroid rings. A couple of small moons caught in the backwash had also changed inclination. All nine of the DFs were heading in towards the small orange star which Centurion Station's never-named planet was in orbit around. As the ship watched, the photosphere started to dim. — Peter F. Hamilton

The military do so love shiny new technology, there's always so many ways to abuse it. — Peter F. Hamilton

But to have dreamed the dream is to have flown above the mountains so high in all but deed. — Peter F. Hamilton

babies are God's way of persuading parents to have teenagers. — Peter F. Hamilton

Hindsight must surely be the most useless function of the human brain, torturing yourself over the unalterable past. — Peter F. Hamilton

Space opera has always given authors a way to include a vast array of ideas and concepts. The opportunities it provides are limitless. Long may it reign. — Peter F. Hamilton

You cannot fight entropy. — Peter F. Hamilton

Wherever you find human misery, you find lawyers, either causing it or making a profit from it. — Peter F. Hamilton

He said that for wickedness to succeed all it takes is for decent people to do nothing. — Peter F. Hamilton

National and regional governments were committing vast resources into combating the biosphere breakdown. Social welfare, infrastructure administration, health care, and security - the fields government used to devote its efforts to - were all slowly being starved of tax money and sold off to private industry. It — Peter F. Hamilton

It's not a god he worships, it's the devil. — Peter F. Hamilton

Marius glowered at the long cone-shaped ship with its stupid curving tailfins. His field scan swept out. It was an illusion, produced by a small module on the airlock floor. He smashed a disruptor pulse into the solido projector, and the starship image shivered, shrinking down to a beautiful, naked young girl with blonde hair that hung halfway down her back. 'Oh, Howard,' she moaned sensually, running her hands up her body, 'do that again.' Marius let out an incoherent cry, and shot the projector again. — Peter F. Hamilton

Any species possessing this kind of knowledge base is best left unannoyed. — Peter F. Hamilton

The hostile force! The reasone the barrier was established. "Astrophysics, do we know what's causing that?"
"No, sir," Bruno said cheerfully. "Not a clue". — Peter F. Hamilton

Random Acts of Kindness," he said. "You need some in your life. Everybody does."
"No, I don't have much of a rak, but hey, this is the twenty-third century, you can get anything fixed if you have enough money. — Peter F. Hamilton

Some believe that we will eventually sink back to the more simple-minded creatures which we evolved out of and the planet will bring another mind forward." "Isn't that the opposite of evolution?" "Only from a single-species perspective. A planet's life is paramount. It is such a fragile rare event, it should be treasured and nurtured for the potential it brings forth. If that means abdicating our physical dominance for our successors, then that is what we will accept. Such a time is a long way in our future. In terms of evolution, we have only just begun such a journey. — Peter F. Hamilton

I've only been out a few days. I'd forgotten how fucking useless meat bodies are. There's barely enough neurones to run a walking routine, let alone something complicated like tying your shoelaces up. I've had to run an expanded mentality in the habitat's RI systems just to keep thinking properly; and that hardware isn't exactly young and frisky any more. — Peter F. Hamilton

Always trust in proven survivors. — Peter F. Hamilton

Bollocks! Bollocks, bollocks. — Peter F. Hamilton

This universe and all it is connected with will come to an end. Entropy carries us towards the inevitable omega point, that is why entropy exists. — Peter F. Hamilton

Their electronics are still back in the Stone Age. — Peter F. Hamilton

Ian chuckled. "You know what the world's greatest oxymoron is?" "Happily married," Sid said wearily. — Peter F. Hamilton

During the Trinity test of the very first atom bomb, Fermi wondered if the detonation would ignite the Earth's atmosphere. They just didn't know, you see. We think the quantum disruption won't propagate. If it does, then the whole universe gets converted into energy. — Peter F. Hamilton

It is the others you must convince, the ignorant masses, yet paradoxically, they are the ones hardest for you to reach. Theirs are the minds which, thanks to circumstance, have set and hardened against new concepts and ideas from an early age. — Peter F. Hamilton

How they hell does it do that? — Peter F. Hamilton

The universe was not built on integrity. In the face of weakness, force can and will triumph. All you can do is choose who wields that force. Us or the Starflyer. — Peter F. Hamilton

Resolution, the ability and determination to see things through to the end. However unexpected or disappointing that end turns out to be. — Peter F. Hamilton

Perfection," Inigo said, "is what we strive for; it is never what we should achieve. There is no such thing as utopia. Life by its nature is a struggle. Take that away and you take away any reason to exist. — Peter F. Hamilton

Laura Brandt knew all about coming out of a suspension chamber. — Peter F. Hamilton

HR?'
'Human Resources.'
'In Brussels that kind of department is referred to as the Office for Personkind Enablement. Resources sounds like something you dig out of the ground. — Peter F. Hamilton

True life is the understanding and support of other people, of selflessness, of charity, of kindness. — Peter F. Hamilton

Would being completely alone in a universe bring a sensation of closing limitations or infinitely expanding horizons with associated loneliness? — Peter F. Hamilton

How you humans survive so much experience is something I shall never understand. To do so much and react to it all in the way you do is as much a curse as a blessing. You never take time to digest and appreciate what happens to you. — Peter F. Hamilton

Most people who have failed miserably in life itself have one last resort left available to them, they become a politician. — Peter F. Hamilton

He had used drugs and nanonic supplements to compensate at first, then supplements became replacements, with bones exchanged for carbon-fibre struts. Electrical consumption supplanted food intake. The final transition was his skin, replacing the eczema-ridden epidermis with a smooth ochre silicon membrane. Warlow didn't need a spacesuit to work in the vacuum, he could survive for over three weeks without a power and oxygen recharge. His facial features had become purely cosmetic, a crude mannequin-like caricature of human physiognomy, although there was an inlet valve at the back of his throat for fluid intake. There was no hair, and he certainly didn't bother with clothes. Sex was something he lost in his fifties. — Peter F. Hamilton

What's a lightwave ship?"
"UFO, basically."
"Cool," Angela said. — Peter F. Hamilton

Ego had brought him to this point, that stupid refusal to quit the case, to simply do the job according to procedure and pick up the monthly salary transfer. Now look where it had brought him, sitting right next to a crapping great fusion bomb. — Peter F. Hamilton

Always demand proof of nirvana before you start following messiahs who're selling it to you. Those guys don't exactly have the greatest track record in the universe. — Peter F. Hamilton

[sic] his reaction was a sign of civilization. Nobody reaches for a gun anymore, just for his lawyer. — Peter F. Hamilton