The Gods do not protect fools. Fools are protected by more capable fools.
Everything starts as somebody's daydream.
The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program. And if we become extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll serve us right!
Some Niven's Laws:
1a) Never throw shit at an armed man.
1b) Never stand next to someone who is throwing shit at an armed man.
2) Never fire a laser at a mirror.
3) Mother Nature doesn't care if you're having fun.
4) Giving up freedom for security has begun to look naive.
Even to me. Many of you were ahead of me on this — Three out of four hijacked airplanes destroyed the World Trade Center and a piece of the Pentagon in 2001. How is it possible that those planes were taken using only five perps armed with knives? It was possible because all those hundreds of passengers had been carefully stripped of every possible weapon. We may want to reconsider this approach. It doesn't work in high schools either.
5) Psi and/or magical powers, if real, are nearly useless.
6) It is easier to destroy than create.
Bin Laden tore down the World Trade Center? Let's see him build one. If human beings didn't have a strong preference for creation, nothing would get built, ever.
7) Any damn fool can predict the past.