Harry Harrison (writer) quotes

Harry Harrison was an American science fiction writer, celebrated for his satirical and adventurous novels. His works, including the "Stainless Steel Rat" series, influenced generations of readers and writers. He became known for blending humor with social commentary in imaginative worlds. Here are 33 of his quotes:

The principles we live by, in business and in social life, are the most important part of happiness. (Harry Harrison (writer))
The final product is a man-plant-animal symbiote that is admirably adapted for survival on this disaster world. No emotions to cause complications or desires that might interfere with pure survival. Complete ruthlessness-mankind has always been strong on this anyway, so it didn't take much of a push.”. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
You're not a homicidal, I checked that on your record before I came out after you. That is why I know you will join the Corps and get a great deal of pleasure out of going after the other kind of criminal who is sick, not just socially protesting. The man who can kill and enjoy it. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
The crossbows twanged like harps of death. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
How large was mankind's sense of obligation? The caveman first had this feeling for his mate, then for his family. It grew until men fought and died for the abstract ideas of cities and nations, then for whole planets. Would the time ever come when men might realize that the obligation should be to the largest and most encompassing reality of all-mankind? And beyond that to life of all kinds. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
Without being too clinical, let's say his brain was affected. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
Their personal policy has become their planetary policy-and that's never a very smart thing. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
What finally decided me was what happened in that village in Tibet; we had airdropped in during the night to get between the Indians and the Chinese. I had never seen poverty or disease like that and I wondered why guns were the only thing we could bring them. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
I have done more in one day than you all have done since you arrived. I have accomplished this because I am better at my work than the rest of you. That is all the information any of you are going to receive. You are dismissed. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
They stared at each other, man and alien, or more correctly alien and alien-for this is what they were to each other. Alien meaning different, alien meaning unknown. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
You must realize that living organisms will do anything to survive. Castaways at sea will drink their own urine in their need for water. Disgust at this is only the attitude of the overprotected who have never experienced extreme thirst or hunger. (Harry Harrison (writer))
There are far too many people there for comfort. Birth control came late and is still being fought-if you can possibly imagine that. There are just too many of the archaic religions still around, as well as crackbrained ideas that have been long entrenched in custom. The world's overcrowded. Men, women, children, a boiling mob wherever you look. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
A kiss is a contact, a union, an exchange. It is unknown to certain races and tribes, while others know it and consider it with disgust. They all suffer a loss. A kiss can be a cold formula, or a token of familial relationship or a prelude to the act of love. It can also be a revelation in an unspoken, secret language of feelings that have never been expressed in words. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
Politicians,” he snorted, stamping the length of the room. "Meatheads! Sitting up there on their fat duffs and making unilateral decisions that may affect the entire future of the human race-and making those decisions out of fear. I hadn't realized that the old philosophy of a bomb-waving solution for international problems was still lurking in dark, spider-filled corners of the political mind. Cretins! View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
Just because you know a thing is true in theory, doesn't make it true in fact. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
I like Ireland because it means I'm near France. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
Most comic scriptwriters are very bad. The artists are good, but the writers are so bad. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
I was waiting for the word charge, I thought it made a nice touch that way. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
He had the same sombre expression and heavy foot that they all have - and the same lack of humour. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
For the first time in my life I find myself with more than one answer to the same question. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
What are you trying to hide with this semantic confusion? (Harry Harrison (writer))
Seeing things die makes you and your murderers happy, and you want to make them happier still! View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
There was something new here, factors he hadn't counted on. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
Peace means not being at war, not fighting. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)
Cold-blooded killing is just not my thing. I've killed in self-defence, I'll not deny that, but I still maintain an exaggerated respect for life in all forms. View quote
Harry Harrison (writer)

Harry Harrison (writer)

Harry Harrison (writer) - Image
Photo: Szymon Sokół, CC BY-SA 3.0
Occupation: American Author
Born: March 12, 1925
Died: August 15, 2012
Quotes count: 33
Wikipedia: Harry Harrison (writer)