Needed: Science Fiction and Fantasy Quotes

[Barking Dog]

Seeing, contrary to popular wisdom, isn't believing. It's where belief stops, because it isn't needed any more.

"She heard him mutter, 'Can you take away this grief?' 'I'm sorry,' she replied quietly. 'Everyone asks me. And I would not do so even if I knew how. It belongs to you. Only time and tears take away the grief; that is what they are for'"

No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.

[Dung Beetle]

All reet! Be fleet, be fleet, cool and discreet, honey…

[Reno Nevada]

"In five years the penis will be obsolete," the salesman said.

[PaperBlob]

"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit; it's the only way to be sure."

"I believe in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things."

"Your logic was impeccable Captain - we are in grave danger."

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

"Clear ether!"

[cmyk]

"So it goes." -Slaughterhouse Five

[cmyk]

Originally Posted by Reno Nevada

"In five years the penis will be obsolete," the salesman said.

I've forgotton most of the story since, but I'll never forget Steel Beach because of that opening line.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Originally Posted by Ranchoth

Cite? In fact, most of the sources I've seen note that the quote is often attributed to Twain, but that the only known print source is Heinlein's “The Man Who Sold the Moon." p. 188, if my sources are correct.

You might be right.

But the version attributed to Twain is a little different:

Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it.

[Regallag_The_Axe]

'Nothing travels faster than light, with the possible exception of bad news which obeys its own special laws' Douglas Adams (again).

[Ranchoth]

Originally Posted by Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor

You might be right.

But the version attributed to Twain is a little different:

Attributed but not sourced, I'm afraid. It seems to be a paraphrased and misattributed form of the original.

[Morgyn]

You know, I never understood that line about violence being the last refuge of the incompetent. Isn't it more often their first resort?

I suspect I'm missing something here.

[Dung Beetle]

"There can be only one."

[Lukeinva]

"Hasta la vista, baby"

[Damfino]

Never Do Yesterday What Should Be Done Tomorrow.
If at Last You Do Succeed, Never Try Again.
A Stitch in Time Saves Nine Billion.
A Paradox May Be Paradoctored.
It Is Earlier When You Think.
Ancestors Are Just People.
Even Jove Nods.

All from "All You Zombies."

A gramme is better than a damn.

---Brave New World.

[Chronos]

You know, I never understood that line about violence being the last refuge of the incompetent. Isn't it more often their first resort?

I like the Schlock Mercenary take on that: If violence wasn't your last resort, then you didn't resort to enough of it.

[Oly]

Take your stinking paws off me you damned dirty ape.

Computer, end program.

I want more life, fucker.

[Peter Morris]

To boldly go where no man has gone before.

[Oly]

Revenge is a dish best served cold. It it very cold in space.

[Peter Morris]

Khaaaaan!

[Regallag_The_Axe]

Not the most classic, but still good, it's from two of Arjen Lucassn's Ayreon albums (01011001 and The Final Experiment)
'The outcome of the final experiment has now been placed in your hands.'

[Rocketeer]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

"He was a hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead."

Why, oh why, hasn't The Stars My Destination been made into a movie yet?

[Lukeinva]

"How about a nice game of chess?"

[Satchmo]

Originally Posted by Rocketeer

Why, oh why, hasn't The Stars My Destination been made into a movie yet?

'Tenser,' said the Tensor.
'Tenser,' said the Tensor.
'Tension, apprehension,
And dissension have begun.'

The Demolished Man might make a better movie if they figure out how to show someone reading someone else's mind. I don't think Bester gets enough credit.

[Dendarii Dame]

"Need more data, damn it." Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold.

[Raguleader]

"Oops." -- Ashes of Victory, David Weber

[Peter Morris]

The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.

[Zebra]

By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged!


"Strange game, it seems the only winning move is not to play."


We're doomed.

[Luk3112]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Chance

Good ones, people. Good ones.

What do y'all think? For Tolkien which of these is better?

"My precious..."

"This was a hobbit hole. And that meant comfort."

Latter

[GargoyleWB]

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible."

Frank Herbert

[Gray Ghost]

I think the OP may have his quotes already, but your Frank Herbert quote reminded me of two from his psychological drama, Under Pressure. It's a short read, but a good one.

"I'm nuts," said Sparrow. "But I'm nuts in a way which fits me perfectly to my world."

"What's your definition of sanity, Skipper?"
"The ability to swim, said Sparrow. That means the sane person has to understand currents, has to know what's required in different waters."

[Sailboat]

You'd better look up the actual word-for-word accuracy of any of these suggestions you actually use -- quite a few of them are "off" by a bit.

[Regallag_The_Axe]

Originally Posted by Gray Ghost

I think the OP may have his quotes already, but your Frank Herbert quote reminded me of two from his psychological drama, Under Pressure. It's a short read, but a good one.

I'll second this.

[Peter Morris]

The sun did not shine.
It was too wet to play.
So we sat in the house
All that cold, cold, wet day.
I sat there with Sally.
We sat there, we two.
And I said, "How I wish
We had something to do!"
Too wet to go out
And too cold to play ball.
So we sat in the house.
We did nothing at all.
So all we could do was to
Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!
And we did not like it.
Not one little bit.

[appleciders]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Chance

What do y'all think? For Tolkien which of these is better?

"My precious..."

"This was a hobbit hole. And that meant comfort."

The latter is much better. "My precious" is more iconic and better known, but I don't think it's actually better. Besides, it seems like you want quotes that are instantly recognizable to fans of the work in question, but not quite so recognizable that any person who's been awake for the last three decades can't possibly miss it. Oh, and you're missing:

"A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to."

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

[TPWombat]

Only in silence the word,

Only in dark the light,

Only in dying life.

Bright the hawk's flight on the empty sky.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin

[CaptMurdock]

"Somewhere out there, the sky is burning, the oceans sleep and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. C'mon, Ace, we've got work to do."

[Chronos]

The first thing that Tak wrote, He wrote Himself.

[MsBatt]

"I am endeavoring to make a mnemonic circuit from stone knives and bearskins."

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by rjk

"You must never run from anything immortal. It attracts their attention." - Peter S. Beagle, The Last unicorn

"The bull was the color of blood -- not the blood that springs from the heart, but the blood that stirs under an old wound that never really healed."

[Clothahump]

Alas, Babylon! - from the novel of the same name

"His desire to profess his final and perpetual vows - was it not akin to the motive of the cat who became an ornithologist?" - from A Canticle For Leibowitz

[Ranchoth]

"Rinaldo is largely responsible," answered Prospero, drawing up his sword-belt another notch. "He sings songs that make men mad. Hang him in his jester's garb to the highest tower in the city. Let him make rimes for the vultures."
Conan shook his lion head. "No, Prospero, he's beyond my reach. A great poet is greater than any king. His songs are mightier than my scepter; for he has near ripped the heart from my breast when he chose to sing for me. I shall die and be forgotten, but Rinaldo's songs will live for ever. "
—The Phoenix on the Sword