The fate of a single man can be rich with significance, that of a few hundred less so, but the history of thousands and millions of men does not mean anything at all, in any adequate sense of the word. Stanislaw Lem More Quotes by Stanislaw Lem More Quotes From Stanislaw Lem Cannibals prefer those who have no spines. Stanislaw Lem entrepreneurshiprecyclingbusiness I hadn't known there were so many idiots in the world until I started using the Internet. Stanislaw Lem idiotinternetworld A dream will always triumph over reality, once it is given the chance. Stanislaw Lem triumphdreamreality To torture a man you have to know his pleasures. Stanislaw Lem torturepleasuremen Science explains the world, but only Art can reconcile us to it. Stanislaw Lem reconcileworldart Each civilization may choose one of two roads to travel, that is, either fret itself to death, or pet itself to death. And in the course of doing one or the other, it eats its way into the Universe, turning cinders and flinders of stars into toilet seats, pegs, gears, cigarette holders and pillowcases, and it does this because, unable to fathom the Universe, it seeks to change that Fathomlessness into Something Fathomable. Stanislaw Lem starscivilizationtwo Art gives man a reminder that he is not just a consumer but a creator as well. It awakens in him the urge to struggle and perform great deeds; it fills him with the craving to pass on the Promethean fire to generations to come. Stanislaw Lem strugglemenart Man has gone out to explore other worlds and other civilizations without having explored his own labyrinth of dark passages and secret chambers, and without finding what lies behind doorways that he himself has sealed. Stanislaw Lem darkmenlying Good books tell the truth, even when they're about things that never have been and never will be. They're truthful in a different way Stanislaw Lem differentbookway Man's quest for knowledge is an expanding series whose limit is infinity, but philosophy seeks to attain that limit at one blow, by a short circuit providing the certainty of complete and inalterable truth. Science meanwhile advances at its gradual pace, often slowing to a crawl, and for periods it even walks in place, but eventually it reaches the various ultimate trenches dug by philosophical thought, and, quite heedless of the fact that it is not supposed to be able to cross those final barriers to the intellect, goes right on. Stanislaw Lem philosophicalmenphilosophy Seduced, shaggy Samson snored. She scissored short. Sorely shorn, Soon shackled slave, Samson sighed, Silently scheming, Sightlessly seeking Some savage, spectacular suicide. Stanislaw Lem savageshumoroussuicide We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is. Stanislaw Lem other-worldsmirrorsneeds A smart machine will first consider which is more worth its while: to perform the given task or, instead, to figure some way out of it. Stanislaw Lem machinessmarttasks Psychoanalytic doctrine reveals the pig in man, a pig saddled with a conscience; the disastrous result is that the pig is uncomfortable beneath that pious rider, and the rider fares no better in the situation, since his endeavor is not only to tame the pig, but also to render it invisible. Stanislaw Lem doctrinepigsmen Faith is, at one and the same time, absolutely necessary and altogether impossible. Stanislaw Lem impossible He who has had, has been, but he who hasn't been, has been had. Stanislaw Lem has-beens You climb to reach the summit, but once there, discover that all roads lead down. Stanislaw Lem climbingmountainhiking The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes. Stanislaw Lem potatoescuriositynatural If man had more of a sense of humor, things might have turned out differently. Stanislaw Lem sense-of-humormightmen Every stink that fights the ventilator thinks it is Don Quixote. Stanislaw Lem fightingwritingthinking
