Asimov, Isaac (1920 – 1992), US science fiction novelist & scholar
Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.
Science can be introduced to children well or poorly. If poorly, children can be turned away from science; they can develop a lifelong antipathy; they will be in a far worse condition than if they had never been introduced to science at all.
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ (I found it!) but ‘That’s funny …’
It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.
If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.
Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what’s right.
You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you’re working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success – but only if you persist.
One, a robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; Two, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; Three, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws….””Laws of Robotics from I. Robot””, 1950″
I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.
