We have earned our peace. It is, by now, more precious than honor, or even pity.

The notion of a universe filled with cowards... who stay cowardly FOREVER, no matter how advanced they become... seems not only unimaginative and temporally myopic, but deeply dismal, as well.

Only people with full stomachs become environmentalists.

Strutting and preening is, in fact, the surest sign of an inferiority complex.

Seldom does a storytelling talent come along as potent and fully mature as Mike Brotherton. His complex characters take you on a voyage that is both fiercely credible and astonishingly imaginative. This is Science Fiction.

Not all SF or fantasy has to inspire new scientists and engineers.

Why must conversions always come so late? Why do people always apologize to corpses?

If you believe you can make a living as a writer, you already have enough ego.

History and geology show what an eyeblink it's been since our current, comfortable culture came about. And yet that culture is using up absolutely everything at a ferocious rate.

Gaia spins on, silently contemplating what it means to be born into a sarcastic universe.

Above all, TRIBES is fun, and even kind of sexy... in that every round features an Opportunity for Reproduction, which is the main aim of the game, as it is in most of Nature.

The fundamental premise of sci-fi is not spaceships and lasers -- it's that children can learn from the mistakes of their parents.

The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.

She had called in the debt that parents owe a child for bringing her, unasked, into a strange world. One should never make an offer without knowing full well what will happen if it is accepted.

When I begin a book, I inevitably discover many things along the way, about the characters, their past histories and the political intrigues that surround them. This discovery process is vital, and I would not prejudice it by deciding too much in advance.

It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.

Liberal interventions that enable all children to shoot for their potential aren't just moral, they are pragmatic -- any society that wastes talent to poverty or oppression isn't just evil: it is stupid.

Generalization is a natural human mental process, and many generalizations are true--in average. What often does promote evil behavior is the lazy, nasty habit of believing that generalizations have anything at all to do with individuals.

Admit that there is some level that would make even you call yourself the victim of class war.

With gritty action and realistic science, Peter Watts brings to life a dark and vivid world.