Jack McDevitt
Jack McDevitt
Jack McDevitt is an American science fiction author whose novels frequently deal with attempts to make contact with alien races, and with archaeology or xenoarchaeology. His two main series are the Alex Benedict series and the Priscilla Hutchins series...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
CountryUnited States of America
wine imagination demon
Of course, they (i. e., demons) had always been observed with some regularity, but that could usually be ascribed to an overabundance of piety or wine or imagination. Take your pick.
integrity loss cost
Sometimes the cost of integrity is the loss of a friend.
running school opportunity
Put the money into schools. Rational ones that train young minds to think, to demand that persons in authority show the evidence for the ideas they push. Do that, and we won't need to provide a world for the Sacred Brethren who, given the opportunity, would run everyone else off the planet.
ego challenges taught
Somewhere we taught ourselves that our opinions are more significant than the facts. And somehow we get our egos and our opinions and Truth all mixed up in a single package, so that when something does challenge one of the notions to which we subscribe, we react as if it challenges us.
queens recognition flaws
The queen of virtues is the recognition of one's own flaws.
intelligent men hands
There'd been studies over the years supporting the proposition that groups composed exclusively of women usually made intelligent decisions, that exclusively male groups did a bit less well, and that mixed groups did most poorly of all, by a substantial margin. It appeared that, when women were present, testosterone got the upper hand and men took greater risks than they might otherwise. Correspondingly, women in the mixed group tended to revert to roles, becoming more passive, and going along with whatever misjudgment the males might perpetrate.
goal safety achieve
One could not always put safety up front as the prime goal. Do that, and who would ever achieve anything of note?
dream people chasing
What would happen is that people like Geroge and Alyx would grow old and die chasing a dream. Although there were probably worse things to do with one's life.
ideas people solitude
Solitude is only a good idea if you have the right people along to share it.
moving beer water
There's not much to be said for sightseeing. You go somewhere that has a waterfall. You have a beer, watch the water go over the edge, and move on. Tours are all the same. In the end, the only thing that matters is the beer.
pornography ifs i-can
Intelligence is like pornography. I can't define it, but I know if when I see it.
decision information made
Decisions are always made with insufficient information. If you really knew what was going on, the decision would make itself.
quality faces sometimes
Faith is conviction without evidence, and sometimes even in the face of contrary evidence. In some quarters, this quality is perceived as a virtue.
bystanders civilization soldier
The measure of a civilization is in the courage, not of its soldiers, but of its bystanders.