There is nothing more dangerous than a shallow thinking compassionate person

But it is no good using the tongs of reason to pull the Fundamentalists' chestnuts out of the fire of contradiction. Their real troubles lie elsewhere.

You cannot do only one thing.

(Technology reliability) x (Human reliability) = (System reliability)

No one should be able to enter a wilderness by mechanical means.

In a competitive world of limited resources, total freedom of individual action is intolerable

People are the quintessential element in all technology... Once we recognize the inescapable human nexus of all technology our attitude toward the reliability problem is fundamentally changed.

Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons.

Why are ecologists and environmentalists so feared and hated? This is because in part what they have to say is new to the general public, and the new is always alarming.

Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.

The only thing we can really count on in this uncertain world is human unreliability itself.

There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.

A leader, who divides his own people, contaminates his platform and begins to destroy his own territory.

Curiosity was a bad character trait for a private investigator to have. It created work.

Love as distinct from "being in love" is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit.

He writes so well he makes me feel like putting my quill back in my goose.

The winning of a pawn among good players of even strength often means the winning of the game.

That which you are looking for may be calling you to seek.

You know you have found love when you can't find your way back.

True freedom doesn't lie in the maximization of choice, but, ironically, is most easily found in a life where there is little choice.

Why do women go out with jerks? Because jerks ask.