“Agitation from the other side of the desk.“No—now you must take this phlegmatically. You had hoped you would qualify. You had feared you would not. Actually, both hope and fear are weaknesses. You knew you would qualify and you hesitate to admit the fact because such knowledge might stamp you as cocksure and therefore unfit. Nonsense! The most hopelessly stupid man is he who is not aware that he is wise. It is part of your qualification that you knew you would qualify.”Relaxation on the other side of the desk.“Exactly. Now you feel better and your guard is down. You are fitter to concentrate and fitter to understand. Remember, to be truly effective, it is not necessary to hold the mind under a tight, controlling barrier which to the intelligent probe is as informative as a naked mentality. Rather, one should cultivate an innocence, an awareness of self, and an unselfconsciousness of self which leaves one nothing to hide. My mind is open to you. Let this be so for both of us.”

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About Isaac Asimov

American writer and professor of biochemistry

Isaac Asimov was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He became widely known as one of the “Big Three” science fiction writers of his era, alongside Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. He wrote or edited more than 500 books and also produced an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. He is especially associated with hard science fiction, but he also wrote mysteries, fantasy, popular science, and other non-fiction. His work ranges across nine of the ten categories of the Dewey decimal system.

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Books by Isaac Asimov

I, Robot

1999

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Foundation

2018

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Second Foundation

1970

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Foundation and Empire

2004

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Foundation's Edge

1991

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