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
people matter admire
Show me what a people admire, and I will tell you everything about them that matters.
weapons idiot
It can provide horrendous weapons to idiots.
may reason wells
Truth, beaten down, may well rise again. But there's a reason it gets beaten down. Usually we don't like it very much.
stars heard knows
We could never know who we truly were until we heard the whispers of the stars.
beach doe news
Tides are like politics. They come and go with a great deal of fuss and noise, but inevitably they leave the beach just as they found it. On those few occasions when major change does occur, it is rarely a good news.
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.
queens recognition flaws
The queen of virtues is the recognition of one's own flaws.
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.
grateful sunset punishment
Faith has its price. When misfortune strikes the true believer, he assumes he has done something to deserve punishment, but isn't quite certain what. The realist, recognizing that he lives in a Darwinian universe, is simply grateful to have made it to another sunset.
rocks data want
If you want data to survive, carve it in rock.
regret real justice
There is no justice. There are occasional acts of vengeance, or regret, but there's no real justice. In the natural scheme of things, it is not possible.
views may problem
It is not faith per se that creates the problem; it is conviction, the notion that one cannot be wrong, that opposing views are necessarily invalid and may even be intolerable.
running believe forever
The uplifters are forever running around telling blockheads they would do better if they would believe in themselves. But they already do. That is why they are blockheads.
talking people special
Talking with most people usually involves a search for truth. Talking with congressmen is strictly special effects.