Talk:Larry Niven

Latest comment: 14 years ago by Kalki in topic A Gift From Earth

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Larry Niven page.


Exercise edit

Hi, does anyone know where the exercise joke comes from? I think I read it in either Ringworld or a known-space story that deals with Free Parks, but I'm not sure. --Kjoonlee 21:51, 15 October 2007 (UTC)Reply



i seem to recall it early in Ringworld. when Louis is sitting on his lawn and watching distent figures play tennis.

Unsourced edit

Wikiquote no longer allows unsourced quotations, and they are in process of being removed from our pages (see Wikiquote:Limits on quotations); but if you can provide a reliable, precise and verifiable source for any quote on this list please move it to Larry Niven. --Antiquary 14:13, 9 May 2009 (UTC)Reply

  • Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
    • This has been called "Niven's Law" by some, but without any citation of an original source. It is an inversion of the third of Arthur C. Clarke's three laws : "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Larry quotes other writers often enough that quotes become misattributed to him, howeverm Larry's body of work is so diverse and out of print that sources may be lost to time.
  • Do fuzzy black holes have any hair?
  • Exercise is wonderful. I could sit all day watching it. Comes from Ringworld
  • I never got good at predicting what millions of people will suddenly decide is rational.
  • I'd repair our education system or replace it with something that works.
  • If we can put a man on the Moon, why can't we put a man on the moon?
  • In hindsight it may even seem inevitable that a socialist society will starve when it runs out of capitalists.
  • Now I'm having serious trouble believing that he died in a mugging. He didn't seem the type.
  • Treat your life like something to be sculpted.
  • You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.

A Gift From Earth edit

Why is there a section for this book and for no others? Is it a particularly quote-worthy example of Niven's oeuvre?

There simply has been no one who has added any large amount of quotes from the other works. Generally, if there are 4 or more quotes from a work, it is usually best to make a separate section for the work. Sometimes they have been made with 3 or less, and sometimes they haven't yet been made with even more, but 4 seems to be a good break away point. ~ Kalki 16:02, 15 October 2009 (UTC)Reply
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