Jack McDevitt Quotes

117 Sourced Quotes

Faith is conviction without evidence, and sometimes even in the face of contrary evidence. In some quarters, this quality is perceived as a virtue.

Jack McDevitt
(He remarked) that anyone who truly wished to develop tolerance toward other human beings should start by casting aside any and all religious affiliation. When challenged by one of the other guests, he had asked innocently whether anyone could name a single person put to death or driven from his home by an atheist over theological matters.

Jack McDevitt
The problem is that too often the only people who can act don't want change. Power doesn't so much corrupt as it breeds conservatism.

Jack McDevitt
Tides are like politics. They come and go with a great deal of fuss and noise, but inevitably they leave the beach just as they found it. On those few occasions when major change does occur, it is rarely good news.

Jack McDevitt
He would make a good manager, but he had a little too much integrity to survive in a top job.

Jack McDevitt
Her experience had taught her that people who insisted on having others recognize their outstanding qualities usually didn't have any.

Jack McDevitt
Talking with most people usually involves a search for truth. Talking with congressmen is strictly special effects.

Jack McDevitt
Organized mayhem, Nick commented, seems to be the chief preoccupation of intelligent species everywhere.

Jack McDevitt
Mac continued to write scathing commentary on assorted hypocrisies in high places and low, without which hypocrisies, he cheerfully conceded, civilized life would be impossible.

Jack McDevitt
If you're right, and nobody really cares what's out there, I wonder whether we're even worth saving.

Jack McDevitt
When things go wrong, the standard management strategy is to decide who takes the blame. This should be an underling, as far down the chain as possible, but preferably with some visibility so people know management means business.

Jack McDevitt
It had occurred to Rimford, at about the time he approached fifty, that the chief drawback in contemplating the enormous gulfs of time and space that constitute the bricks and mortar of the cosmologist is that one acquires a dismaying perception of the handful of years allotted a human being.

Jack McDevitt
There'd been studies over the years supporting the proposition that groups composed exclusively of women usually made intelligent decisions, that exclusively male groups did a bit less well, and that mixed groups did most poorly of all, by a substantial margin. It appeared that, when women were present, testosterone got the upper hand and men took greater risks than they might otherwise. Correspondingly, women in the mixed group tended to revert to roles, becoming more passive, and going along with whatever misjudgment the males might perpetrate.

Jack McDevitt
Courage is perhaps our most admirable trait. The man, or woman, who possesses it is able to plunge ahead, despite dangers, despite warnings, despite hazards of all kinds, to attack the task at hand. Often, it is indistinguishable from stupidity.

Jack McDevitt
Certain types of decisions can be safely ignored. Some issues will go away with the passage of time, others will be so slow developing that the decision-makers will depart before the results of their neglect becomes manifest. Which brings us to the environment.

Jack McDevitt
The term congressional hearing is an oxymoron. No congressional hearing is ever called to gather information. Rather, it is an exercise designed strictly for posturing, by people who have already made up their minds, looking for ammunition to support their positions.

Jack McDevitt
Most of us sleepwalk through our lives. We take all its glories, its wine, food, love, and friendship, its sunsets and its stars, its poetry and fireplaces and laughter, for granted. We forget that experience is not, or should not be, a casual encounter, but rather an embrace. Consequently, for too many of us, when we come to the end, we wonder where the years have gone. And we suspect we have not lived.

Jack McDevitt
Boundaries have no existence save on charts or in small minds. Nature does not draw lines.

Jack McDevitt
There is nothing that overwhelms the senses quite like an unwelcome silence.

Jack McDevitt
Intelligence is like pornography. I can't define it, but I know if when I see it.

Jack McDevitt
Solitude is only a good idea if you have the right people along to share it.

Jack McDevitt
The truth is that when your people don't tell you what you need to know, it's a failure of leadership.

Jack McDevitt
People tend to believe that good fortune consists of equal parts talent, hard work, and sheer luck. It's hard to deny the roles of the latter two. As to talent, I would only say it consists primarily in finding the right moment to step in.

Jack McDevitt
The secret to a successful career in virtually any field is good public relations. Forget results. Forget the facts. Perception is all that matters.

Jack McDevitt
The measure of a civilization is in the courage, not of its soldiers, but of its bystanders.

Jack McDevitt
Life is a walk in the fog. Most people don't know that. They're fooled by the sunlight into thinking they can see what's ahead. But it's the reason they are forever getting lost or falling into ditches or committing matrimony.

Jack McDevitt
There's not much to be said for sightseeing. You go somewhere that has a waterfall. You have a beer, watch the water go over the edge, and move on. Tours are all the same. In the end, the only thing that matters is the beer.

Jack McDevitt