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Poul Anderson Biography

Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American science fiction author who began his career in the 1940s and continued to write into the 21st century. Anderson authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and short stories. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.

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Poul Anderson Quotes

A man isn't really alive till he has something bigger than himself and his own little happiness, for which he'd gladly die.

Alive, Bigger, Littles, Men, Till

Timidity can be as dangerous as rashness.

Dangerous, Rashness, Timidity

The single definition of government I've ever seen that makes sense is that it's the organization which claims the right to kill people who won't do what it wants.

Government, Organization, People, Sense, Single

Machines can only find what ignorant men have programmed them to find.

Ignorant, Machines, Men

My knowledge of the human psyche is as yet imperfect. Certain areas won't yield to computation.

Areas, Certain, Imperfect, Psyche, Statistics, Yield

Why do most people think their own impoverished lives must be the norm of the universe?

Impoverished, Norm, People, Stupidity, Thinking, Universe

Colonization means potential immortality for the human genus. Man's safety on Earth was never great, and it dwindles hourly. Disarmament, even world government, will not guarantee survival in an age when population presses natural resources to the limit and when the knowledge of how to work mischief on a planetary scale is ever more widely diffused among peoples who may grow ever more desperate.

Grow, Guarantee, Mean, Men, Space, Work

If we knew exactly what to expect throughout the Solar System, we would have no reason to explore it.

Expect, Exploration, Reason, Solar System, System, Throughout

In my considered opinion, the profit to be made by permanent settlement in space is nothing less than the survival of industrial civilization, and therefore the survival of nearly the entire human race, along with such amenities as peace, freedom, enough to eat, and the chance to reach a high age in good health.

Age, Civilization, Freedom, Race, Settlement, Space

Anybody can find infinite Mandelbrot figures in his navel.

Figures, Infinite, Navel

I wrote the first book, Harvest of Stars, and as I was writing it, I saw that certain implications had barely been touched on. . . It's perfectly obvious that two completely revolutionary things are going on, with cybernetics, and biological science.

Book, Obvious, Stars, Things, Touched, Writing

It is a truism that the structure of a society is basically determined by its technology. Not in an absolute sense-there may be totally different cultures using identical tools-but the tools settle the possibilities; you can't have interstellar trade without spaceships. A race limited to a single planet, possessing a high knowledge of mechanics but with its basic machines of industry and war requiring a large capital investment, will inevitably tend toward collectivism under one name or another. Free enterprise needs elbow room.

Industry, Name, Names, Technology, Tend, War

He had seen too much of the cosmos to have any great faith in man's ability to understand it.

Ability, Cosmos, Faith, Men, Science, Understand

I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked at it in the right way, did not become still more complicated.

Become, Motivational, See, Truth, Way, Witty

Heaven is not as narrowly literal-minded as hell.

Heaven, Hell, Literal, Narrowly

Better a life like a falling star, brief bright across the dark, than the long, long waiting of the immortals, loveless and cheerlessly wise.

Across, Bright, Dark, Fall, Stars, Wise

These lands are not always calm. We may well have more adventures ahead of us. But we shall meet them with high hearts.

Adventure, Ahead, Calm, Heart, High, Land

Will none wipe the sneer of the face of the cosmos?

Cosmos, Face, Science, Wipe

Let us settle down to the serious business of getting drunk.

Business, Down, Drunk, Serious, Serious Business, Settling

What five books would I like to be remembered for? Well. . . Tau Zero, I like that one especially. It was somewhat of a tour de force, and I think it got across what I was trying for.

Across, Book, Five, Journey, Tour, Zero

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