George Alec Effinger quotes - page 2

It didn't feel, at that moment, like I was getting into something over my head. It never does, before you take the leap. (George Alec Effinger)
I shook my head ruefully. Police departments all over the world were identical in two respects: they all have a fondness for breaking your head open for little or no provocation, and they can't see the simple truth if it's lying in front of them naked with its legs spread. The police don't enforce laws; they don't even get busy until after the laws are broken. They solve crimes at a pitifully low rate of success. What the police are, to be honest, is a kind of secretarial pool that records the names of the victims and the statements of the witnesses. After enough time passes, they can safely shove this information to the back of the filing system to make room for more. View quote
George Alec Effinger
The only negative thing she had to say was that I displayed a tendency to exaggerate the facts for the sake of interesting reading. View quote
George Alec Effinger
With people, Moore suspected, no matter how noble the intent, a defect was unavoidable, a taint of politics. View quote
George Alec Effinger
"I think you should know that I'm a devout Christian.” I took that to mean that my new servant wholeheartedly disapproved of almost everything I might say or do. View quote
George Alec Effinger
I do not attempt here to derogate my brother's reading habits, but merely to indicate the disparity in our interests. View quote
George Alec Effinger
The butler recognized me, even favoring me with a minute change in his expression. Evidently I had become a celebrity. Politicians and sex stars may cuddle up to you and it doesn't prove a thing, but when the butlers of the world notice you, you realize that some of what you believe about yourself is true. View quote
George Alec Effinger
There are more strains of courage than merely facing a sword. View quote
George Alec Effinger
"I have been waiting for a sign. I knew that if I waited here long enough my bird, that tarishawk that rests here each day, I knew that he would come. Our Mother said that if he flew from the right, then I would have good fortune. If he came from the left, my journey would be disastrous for me, and it would bear no positive fruits for you.” "And the hawk? Which way did it come? Did it come from the left?” Dore smiled once more; his smile was always the most cheerless aspect of him. "The hawk has not come at all,” he said. View quote
George Alec Effinger
The most frequent expression in the Muslim world is inshallah, if God wills. It removes all guilt: blame it on Allah. If the oasis dries up and blows away, it was Allah's will. If you get caught sleeping with your brother's wife, it was Allah's will. Getting your hand or your cock or your head chopped off in reprisal is Allah's will, too. Nothing much gets done in the Budayeen without discussing how Allah is going to feel about it. View quote
George Alec Effinger
I believe that it is possible to overlegislate ourselves into a highly restrictive form of government. (George Alec Effinger)
Turmoil and revolution in their best guises serve to tear down ancient and meaningless customs, in favor of practical social reform. View quote
George Alec Effinger
Any thought which is printed, either here or in the paper, without subsequent attack is generally believed to be true. This is not so much a logical condition as it is a fault of human nature. A longstanding or constant idea is often equated with a true one. View quote
George Alec Effinger
Useful! You want to talk about useful? Have you ever read anything about politics? Economics? You know what keeps a culture alive?” "Yes,” said Ernest sullenly, while M. Gargotier cleaned up the mess. "People not bothering other people. View quote
George Alec Effinger
Was that what he wanted, what the grand scheme of Utopia 3 was designed for? It was a lot like death, only more tedious. View quote
George Alec Effinger
Proper knowledge defeats the shouting minions of emotion. View quote
George Alec Effinger
People who live their lives by proverbs waste their time doing lots of stupid things. "Getting even is the best revenge” is my motto. View quote
George Alec Effinger
I liked being the screwer rather than the screwee. View quote
George Alec Effinger
We tread on unsure ground, theologically. The doctrines are still in the malleable state; what eventually evolves from them will owe its existence not to pre-eminent merit, but to the shrewdness of the compromises made by the factions. View quote
George Alec Effinger
The network was running a pre-recorded tape of a morning quiz show. The contestants looked vapid, the announcer cheerfully bored, the questions pointless, and the prizes undesirable. View quote
George Alec Effinger
The party had demanded this; Weintraub was to be a scapegoat, the local conspirator in the Reichstag tragedy. "I suppose I can't doubt them,” he thought, as his heart pounded, as his mouth grew dry, as he felt his head become airy and his thoughts giddy. "After all, the Party has the broadest perspective. I don't have any real sense of this worldwide operation. It's all for the greater good, I guess. They know what they're doing.”. (George Alec Effinger)
Perhaps he could organize everyone. He could stand up on something and shout slogans until he had attracted enough attention. Then he could begin some rambling speech, hoping that the people around him would be so desperate for leadership they wouldn't notice the absurdity of what he said. View quote
George Alec Effinger
"What do you know about the activities of the brain and the nervous system?” I laughed. "About as much as any hustler from the Budayeen who can barely read and write his name. I know that the brain is in the head, I've heard that it's a bad idea to let some thug spill it on the sidewalk. Beyond that, I don't know much.” I did, truthfully, know some more, but I always hold something in reserve. It's a good policy to be a little quicker, a little stronger, and a little smarter than everybody thinks you are. View quote
George Alec Effinger
"She cost you more” "I know,” said the trick. "How much?” "You tell me,” she said, thinking he might be a cop setting her up. That kind of thing still happened whenever the religious authorities ran out of infidels to persecute. View quote
George Alec Effinger
Sometimes the only vitamins I get are in the lime slices in my gimlets. View quote
George Alec Effinger