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Meaning
The quote suggests that a machine itself is morally neutral. Any purpose or harm comes from the people who use it, not from the machine having its own motives. It also contrasts machines with animals by saying machines do not act from instinct or intention.
When It Was Said
1971
Who It Was Said To
Not documented yet.
Historical Context
Chapter 10 (Orr)
Source
Chapter 10 (Orr)
Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
Did They Really Say It?
Listed with a cited source on Wikiquote; certainty is marked PROBABLE.
Did You Know?
Cited with a source on Wikiquote.
About Ursula K. Le Guin
American author
Ursula K. Le Guin was an American author, active from the late 1950s into the early twenty-first century. She is best known for speculative fiction, especially the science fiction set in her Hainish universe and the fantasy series Earthsea. Her first work appeared in 1959, and her career lasted nearly sixty years. Over that time she wrote more than twenty novels and more than a hundred short stories, along with poetry, literary criticism, translations, and children's books. Although she was often described as a science fiction writer, she said she would rather be known as an American novelist.
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Reflections: more sayings
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Books by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Left Hand of Darkness
2016
A Wizard of Earthsea
1968
The Dispossessed
1975
The Farthest Shore
1990
The Lathe of Heaven
2008