25 Quotes by Michael Swanwick

Perfection is death,' Anastasia said. 'The world is imperfect, but if it weren't, who would love it?

The privacy laws are paramount. They come before even common sense...

Their business here was over then, and they all knew it; the magic moment had arrived when it was understood that nothing more would be established, discovered, or decided today. But the meeting, having once begun, must drag on for several long more hours before it could be ended. The engines of protocol had enormous inertial mass; once set in motion they took forever to grind to a stop.

I forget if it was the Mathematician of Alexandria who said that geometry is beauty laid bare or the Father of Relativity who made the claim for physics,” Darger said. “She is, in either case, ravishing.

But there was only so much temptation a man could resist without losing all respect for himself.

The television set groaned and wept blood when they turned it on.

My colleague and I are journalists. ... Not of the muckraking variety, I hasten to assure you! Corruption is a necessary and time-honored concomitant of any functioning government, which we support wholeheartedly.

The best thing to be in a city was anonymous. Failing that, however, notoriety would do.

This book is dedicated to all good teachers everywhere, most particularly those of the William Levering School and Central High School in Philadelphia, to whom more is owed than can ever be repaid.