185 Quotes by Nathan Myhrvold

The prize for ultimate inefficiency goes to America. We have built in so many checks and balances that our ‘leaders’ are the most thoroughly hogtied of any on Earth.

The magic words ‘on the Internet,’ if inserted into nearly any sentence, seem to protect it from normal critical scrutiny.

In the early days of the software industry, people cared about copyright and didn’t give a damn about patents – they copied each other willy-nilly.

It is better to predict dramatic things that don’t happen than boring things that do.

Software-industry battles are fought by highly paid and out-of-shape nerds furiously pounding computer keyboards while they guzzle diet Coke. The stakes aren’t very dramatic. Life? Liberty? The pursuit of happiness? Nope, it’s about stock options.

It’s impossible that we’re alone in the universe. Every time we think we’re more special than others, we’re proven wrong.

Politicians don’t like to face unpleasant realities. In truth, nobody does, but as individuals, we have no choice; if we neglect to plan ahead, we are held accountable. Fail to meet your responsibilities at work, and you get fired. Ignore your car’s gas gauge, and you get stranded.

Now, to find dinosaurs, you hike around in horrible conditions looking for a dinosaur. It sounds really dumb, but that’s what it is. It’s horrible conditions, because wherever you have nice weather, plants grow, and you don’t get any erosion, and you don’t see any dinosaurs.

It’s very hard for individual inventors to get paid. For the same reason that private equity is valuable – broadly, that’s a good thing – in the case of patents, many that own them aren’t in a good position to take the next step.