Kum Zarate > Kum's Quotes

“We!” he emphasizes, pointing at his crew, “get to be the first link in a new chapter in our history. But I want you all to really consider what is going on here…” He takes the tone of a circus ringmaster. “This is bigger than successfully colonizing Mars and Ganymede. It’s bigger than Columbus or Magellan. It’s even bigger than the first homo sapiens leaving Africa.” He raises his voice even more, waving his arms. “Hell, this is bigger than fish crawling out of the fucking water and growing legs! Think about it!” Everyone is quiet, avoiding eye contact with Calvin. Everyone except Captain Taylor looks at him ambiguously.
“Why not Cook and Vancouver?” Taylor asks.
 “Excuse me, sir?”
“You said Columbus or Magellan, but that’s preposterous. Magellan was a madman who tortured his crew and never made the whole trip, and Columbus, to be honest, is completely overblown. The dignity alone that Captain Cook commanded…”
“Yeah, yeah, OK. Cook and Magellan? Frances Drake? Whoever. The point is…” Calvin walks to the glass and points. “This,” the pudgy showman continues, “is right here, right now. Got it?! Everyone here needs to admit the real reason we want to go down to that mysterious blue planet, figure out the atmosphere, and collect some space plasma. It’s not because it’s our job. No. It’s time we’re all honest and admit we are now part of something much bigger than ourselves. It’s not just our job, it’s our story. It’s our story as human beings, it’s our instinct to explore!”
― Joseph A. Anderson, Eden 2:b

“A brand that feels human earns something no algorithm can replicate: trust”
― Warren Kornblum, Notes from the Brand Stand: Thoughts on Emotional Branding from Someone Who Has Fought for Consumer Attention and Won

“I know what it’s like to be stuck someplace new.”
― Sara Pascoe, Oswald the Almost Famous Opossum

“He thought about their anthem, You’ll Never Walk Alone, and felt worse.”
― J.L. Marrain, The Gridd: Perils of the Lightholder

“The moisture in the air sat in the crevices of storefront windows, like the tears that welled in the corners of her dark brown eyes.”
― Jennifer Wizbowski, Poinsettia Girl: The Story of Agata della Pieta

“When speaking to her husband, Isabella replied, Mon tresdoutz coer, (My very sweet heart) please do that and perhaps I shall be able to continue to perform official functions on your behalf!”
― Michael G. Kramer, Isabella Warrior Queen

“She taught me at a young age that one judges a book by its cover, so you better look presentable when arriving in foreign land”
― Anastasia Pash, Travel With Style: Master the Art of Stylish and Functional Travel Capsules

“Everyone, including Robbin’ Robin, dashed for the house as rain hammered down on them, Mary slammed the back door shut just as the sky split open.”
― Susan Rowland, The Swan Lake Murders

“Sillyhead, Sam said. Are you kidding! You’ve been raised by pirates. Remember!”
― Patricia Mather Parker, The Abode

“He turned and saw Becky, crying in the doorway of her house. What was he doing here? Turning back he saw flashing blue lights at the end of the road, and realised the ringing in his ears was the sound of approaching sirens.”
― R.D. Ronald, The Zombie Room

“He values my understanding and talents more highly than my heart, but I am proud of the latter only. It is the sole source of everything of our strength, happiness, and misery. All the knowledge I possess every one else can acquire, but my heart is exclusively my own.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

“This may have been what John and I were brought together for,’ she said. ‘In thirty years the world may need one of these little ones.’ She paused. ‘It may be Ronnie or it may be Willem, or it may be little Pierre who does great things for the world,’ she said. ‘But when that happens, monsieur, it will be because I met your son to show him Paris, and we fell in love.”
― Nevil Shute, Pied Piper

“Myrnin turned away to pick up his Ben Franklin spectacles, balanced them on his nose, and looked over them to say,
"Don't do drugs. I feel I ought to say that.”
― Rachel Caine, Ghost Town

“New York is a diamond iceberg floating in river water.”
― Truman Capote

“You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you, not expecting to receive from me any repayment of your favor; now you know that it is possible for even a Mouse to confer benefits on a Lion.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables