From "Roadside Picnic"

A very easy and compelling read (and I generally don't like sci-fi). But IMHO not a whole bunch of quotable quotes. Here's one pretty good excerpt though (I think). Valentine Pillman, a scientist, a nobel laureate, is commenting on the Visit (an alien visitation) and its significance for humanity:

"We now know that for humanity as a whole, the Visit has largely passed without a trace. For humanity everything passes without a trace. Of course, it's possible that by randomly pulling chestnuts out of this fire, we'll eventually stumble on something that will make life on Earth completely unbearable. That would be bad luck. But you have to admit, that's a danger humanity has always faced." He waved away the cigarette smoke and smiled wryly. "You see, I've long since become unused to discussing humanity as a whole. Humanity as a whole is too stable a system, nothing upsets it."

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