Intelligence is just a tool to be used toward a goal, and goals are not always chosen intelligently. Larry Niven More Quotes by Larry Niven More Quotes From Larry Niven And every friend I've got has been writing Mars stories. It was pretty clear I'd never catch up. Larry Niven mars stories writing Psi and/or magical powers, if real, are nearly useless. Larry Niven useless real ifs The Unexpected always comes at the most awkward times. Larry Niven awkward unexpected Half of wisdom is learning what to unlearn. Larry Niven unlearn half Anything beats an expensive stack of paper. Larry Niven beats paper expensive Treat your life like something to be sculpted. Larry Niven like-something treats I love superconductors. Larry Niven I'm not predicting; I just love playing with superconductors. Larry Niven predicting I've got five or six unpublished stories kicking around looking for somebody to buy them. Larry Niven kicking six stories I've spent a lot of my life among people brighter than myself. Larry Niven brighter people The human species really could have faced global thermonuclear war. During seventy years of Cold War we grew used to it. Larry Niven cold war years SF isn't a genre; SF is the matrix in which genres are embedded, and because the SF field is never going in any one direction at any one time, there is hardly a way to cut it off. Larry Niven one-direction cutting way Boredom is my worst enemy. It's killed a lot of my friends, but it won't get me. When I get bored, I go risk my life somewhere. Larry Niven boredom worst-enemy blessing Spray a book with insect spray, drop it in a bag, add some mothballs and seal it. Put it in another bag and seal it. Another. The packages piled up on the floor, each a book sealed in four plastic envelopes. Larry Niven bags add book Building one space station for everyone was and is insane: we should have built a dozen. Larry Niven technology space should-have Consider the true picture. Think of myriads of tiny bubbles, very sparsely scattered, rising through a vast black sea. We rule some of the bubbles. Of the waters we know nothing. Larry Niven sea water thinking We need to take command of the solar system to gain that wealth, and to escape the sea of paper our government is becoming, and for some decent chance of stopping a Dinosaur Killer asteroid. Larry Niven wealth government chance sea