William Gibson Quotes

We shouldn't be lowering standards for NATO membership; we have to insist on democracy, reform, market economy, anti-corruption, reformed military, contributions to common security, interoperability - all the things that the Czechs had to do, the Poles had to do - they're still on the table. Which means that Ukraine is a long way away from getting to that point.

I mean you last as long as lies.

A long long time ago I took an oath to tell all secrets that came my way. Don't tell me a secret, I won't keep it. I'm against secrets, I'm against hierarchies, lineages, all assumption of special knowledge on the part of anyone in the presence of anyone else is abhorrent to me. I mean, I am a true anarchist first and foremost.

To conquer the command in the air means victory; to be beaten in the air means defeat.

We need to get beyond the politics of the moment, the deficit of the hour, the military count of the day, the numbers that rarely shape events. Our long-term interests must be in people and in the values of democracy and individual liberty.

When the journey from means to end is not too long, the means themselves are enjoyed if the end is ardently desired.

It is a long-cherished tradition among a certain type of military thinker that huge casualties are the main thing. If they are on the other side then this is a valuable bonus.

Now more than ever the world has to come together to make changes. Just because certain cultures have had long-standing traditions does not mean that in today's world they are acceptable any longer. The world and the environment are evolving and that means we must change our ways as human beings as well.

The German people are not a warlike nation. It is a soldierly one, which means it does not want a war, but does not fear it. It loves peace but also loves its honor and freedom

The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years.

The one who rules like the mother lasts long.

And that, I think, was the handle--that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting--on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark--the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.

Rough board shelves hold a number of books, without which some of the evenings would be long indeed.

In a moment of crisis, of which there are all too many, Russian military planners may conclude that lacking a deterrent, the only hope of survival is a first strike - which means the end for all of us.

One must not be mean with affections; what is spent of the funds is renewed in the spending itself. Left untouched for too long, they diminish imperceptibly or the lock gets rusty; they are there all right but one cannot make use of them.

I developed a long time ago some habits. One of them is what I call "divert daily, withdraw weekly, and abandon annually." Divert daily is everyday you do something that's not work-related. You do something that relaxes you. Then you withdraw weekly. The Bible says every seven days you take a day off. And then abandon annually means you just go out and forget it all.

Make sure you eat whole foods that are good for your entire body. This doesn't mean that you can't enjoy your food or make room for plenty of indulgences. But your conscious goal has to be to eat for long term health and what you do most of the time is what really counts.

No amount of success - whatever that means, quote-unquote success - no amount of success replaces the reality of being separated from my family for this long.

Weapons means killing. Weapons is ah, I'm simply sensitive to the word.

Put the right pitching mechanics together with good health, and there's nothing surprising about lasting a long time.

Making a mistake means overshooting a scene, shooting too many takes, for instance. Long after you've got it, you just keep shooting.

I'm more interested in what I'm going to leave behind me than in making a big hit record. I've refined what I do for a long time. If getting better at it means it goes over the heads of those who only wanted to party, then so be it.

Science can't tell us what our life means ethically. It can't tell us what we are meant to do as moral creatures. But, insofar as science can understand what we're made of, and what we're related to, the Darwinian revolution completely revised our ideas about who we are and what we're related to and how long we've been here and why we're on this Earth.

Say a word, say a thousand to me on the telephone and I shall choose the wrong one to cling to as though you had said it after long deliberation when only I provoked it from you, I will cling to it from among a thousand, to be provoked and hurl it back with something I mean no more than you meant that, something for you to cling to and retreat clinging to.