5 ms·

"Great are the stars, and man is of no account to them. But man is a fair spirit, whom a star conceived and a star kills. He is greater than those bright blind

"Great are the stars, and man is of no account to them. But man is a fair spirit, whom a star conceived and a star kills. He is greater than those bright blind companies. For though in them there is incalculable potentiality, in him there is achievement, small, but actual. Too soon, seemingly, he comes to his end. But when he is done he will not be nothing, not as though he had never been; for he is eternally a beauty in the eternal form of things." Also would you like to buy a cheap but functional home office desk?

marmaduke 9y ago
Do you have an attribution for the quote?
- neolefty 9y ago
  Olaf Stapleton, "Last and First Men, & Star Maker: Two Science-fiction Novels" (from Google book search)
  - stevekemp 9y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_and_First_Men https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_and_First_Men is a good read, and very memorable if you've read it. Not sure, off-hand, which of the two books the quote comes from which I guess is my cue to re-read them both!
    - justin66 9y ago
      It's last and first men: https://books.google.com/books?id=ubHmCQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT351&ots=rw9kw36b9j&dq=%22Great%20are%20the%20stars%2C%20and%20man%20is%20of%20no%20account%20to%20them.%22&pg=PT351#v=onepage&q=%22Great%20are%20the%20stars,%20and%20man%20is%20of%20no%20account%20to%20them.%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=ubHmCQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT351&ots...
  - hypertexthero 9y ago
    Star Maker is a beautiful book, warmly recommended, available here: https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/stapledon/olaf/star/ https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/stapledon/olaf/star/
- justin66 9y ago
  Seriously, this takes 3 seconds to google.
  - pc86 9y ago
    And even less time not to type this meaningless and unnecessarily rude comment. My meaningless and unnecessarily rude comment, on the other hand, took quite a bit longer.
    - zamber 9y ago
      That's why I too often have that xkcd strip about people being wrong on the internet in mind _before_ writing a comment on HN. StackOverflow is for "well, actually...".
      - justin66 9y ago
        If we're being technical about it, Reddit is for comments like yours. (and this one)
      - dang 9y ago
        That's a brilliant use of that xkcd classic because it also dampens the chance of posting it yet again here.
  - always_good 9y ago
    Welcome to the new era, where people have smartphones in their pocket yet are less resourceful than ever.
    - dopamean 9y ago
      Sometimes when you ask someone a question like "where did that quote come from" you get more than just the title of the book. Maybe they have an interesting story to retell about where they first heard it. Maybe they can give you a more personal perspective that resonates a bit more than whatever you'd find from a cursory glance at some Google search results.

marmaduke 9y ago

Do you have an attribution for the quote?

neolefty 9y ago
Olaf Stapleton, "Last and First Men, & Star Maker: Two Science-fiction Novels" (from Google book search)
- stevekemp 9y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_and_First_Men https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_and_First_Men is a good read, and very memorable if you've read it. Not sure, off-hand, which of the two books the quote comes from which I guess is my cue to re-read them both!
  - justin66 9y ago
    It's last and first men: https://books.google.com/books?id=ubHmCQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT351&ots=rw9kw36b9j&dq=%22Great%20are%20the%20stars%2C%20and%20man%20is%20of%20no%20account%20to%20them.%22&pg=PT351#v=onepage&q=%22Great%20are%20the%20stars,%20and%20man%20is%20of%20no%20account%20to%20them.%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=ubHmCQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT351&ots...
- hypertexthero 9y ago
  Star Maker is a beautiful book, warmly recommended, available here: https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/stapledon/olaf/star/ https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/stapledon/olaf/star/
justin66 9y ago
Seriously, this takes 3 seconds to google.
- pc86 9y ago
  And even less time not to type this meaningless and unnecessarily rude comment. My meaningless and unnecessarily rude comment, on the other hand, took quite a bit longer.
  - zamber 9y ago
    That's why I too often have that xkcd strip about people being wrong on the internet in mind _before_ writing a comment on HN. StackOverflow is for "well, actually...".
    - justin66 9y ago
      If we're being technical about it, Reddit is for comments like yours. (and this one)
    - dang 9y ago
      That's a brilliant use of that xkcd classic because it also dampens the chance of posting it yet again here.
- always_good 9y ago
  Welcome to the new era, where people have smartphones in their pocket yet are less resourceful than ever.
  - dopamean 9y ago
    Sometimes when you ask someone a question like "where did that quote come from" you get more than just the title of the book. Maybe they have an interesting story to retell about where they first heard it. Maybe they can give you a more personal perspective that resonates a bit more than whatever you'd find from a cursory glance at some Google search results.