74 Quotes by Sylvain Neuvel

I can’t make the forest grow faster because I want it to. I can’t will it to grow. It takes time.

Parents feel a great deal of responsibility for the way their children turn out, but there is very little a parent can do that will remotely rival the influence a friend or lover can have.

I was never really good at making friends. I liked reading; I liked walking in the woods; I liked being alone.

I hate this world. People are small. They’re ignorant, and they’re happy to stay that way. They make an effort to. They’ll spend time and energy finding ways not to learn things just to feel comfortable with their beliefs.

They find a decent, good-looking man who doesn’t judge them and treats them like a princess. They realize how lucky they are and they never let go. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?

When faced with a choice, humans almost invariably seek a no-action, no-change option, even when one of the presented alternatives is quantifiably and logically more advantageous.

Deadwood sure isn’t thriving, but it’s still standing. And the landscape is breathtaking. It’s sitting right on the edge of the Black Hills National Forest, with its eerie rock formations, beautiful pine forests, barren rock, canyons, and creeks. I can’t think of a more beautiful place on Earth. I can understand why someone would want to build something there.

People are denying even the most basic scientific facts because it makes them feel better about hurting each other. Do you realize how horrifying that is? We’re talking about human beings making a conscious effort, going out of their way, to be ignorant. Willfully stupid. They’re proud of it. They take pride in idiocy. There’s not even an attempt to rationalize things anymore.

They’re saying the system is rigged against them. I’m saying they’re not even a part of it, not in a meaningful sense anyway. They’ve been sold an illusion of democracy. And they bought it! They really bought it. They don’t want to get rid of the system. They’re asking for more representation in it. They don’t even realize that the whole thing is built to keep them out.