Murray Leinster

“Lane understood. Burke was one of that considerable part of humanity which enthusiastically believes in anything that’s sufficiently dramatic.”

“He’d caused the First Native War on Mars, by taking advantage of the fact that at that time human law had not defined the killing of Martians as murder.”

“The secret of getting along with people is that of postponing quarrels.”

“Lon frowned. “They’re so far ahead of us,” he said uneasily, “that they could conquer us if they wanted to. And that’s bad!”“Lon!” said the older man severely. “They’re civilized! Civilized men don’t want to conquer other men!””

“The unfamiliar is not necessarily unreasonable.”

““Put dispassionately,” said Haynes cheerfully, “you sound like you’re crazy. But you’re stating facts. Okay so far.””

“And, just as she had responded to primitive prowess, so Ron reacted to feminine admiration by an enormously increased urge to accomplish.”

“Her eyes upon him were soft. Civilized people act upon intellectualized motives. They decide what is wise, and sometimes do it. But when they are swayed by purest primitive instincts they are usually happier. Hana was responding to one of the most ancient of all known human impulses—admiration of a proved warrior.”

“Logics don’t work good on women. Only on things that make sense.”

“My purpose is not to make profits, but to keep people from being killed. Quaint, eh? But I’m one of the people I don’t want killed.”

““I’ve got an impossible job on my hands,” he told them, “and if I succeed at it, there’s an inconceivable one to follow.””

“My specialty is the mechanics of research. But I test my theories about how to make discoveries by using them to make discoveries.”