Roadside Picnic Quotes

“...And what if I turn out to be
completely superfluous in their system?"
He livened up.
"What if we are superfluous?”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“The God hypothesis, for example, allows you to have an unparalleled understanding of absolutely everything while knowing absolutely nothing . . . Give a man a highly simplified model of the world and interpret every event on the basis of this simple model. This approach requires no knowledge. A few rote formulas, plus some so-called intuition, some so-called practical acumen, and some so-called common sense.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“Натянули мы спецкостюмы, пересыпал я гайки из мешочка в набедренный карман, и побрели мы через весь институтский двор к выходу в Зону. Так здесь у них это заведено, чтобы все видели: вот, мол, идут герои науки живот свой класть на алтарь во имя человечества, знания и святого духа, аминь. И точно – во все окна аж до пятнадцатого этажа хайла сочувствующие повыставлялись, только что платочками не машут и оркестра нет.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Пикник на обочине

“Keep your head high,” I tell Tender. “Suck in your gut, Soldier! A grateful humanity wont forget you!”

He gives me a look, and I see that he’s in no mood for jokes. He’s right–this is no joke. But when you’re leaving for the Zone, it’s one of two things: you start bawling, or you crack jokes–and I’m sure as hell not crying. I take a look at Kirill. He’s holding up OK, only mouthing something silently, as if praying.

“Praying?” I ask. “Pray, pray! The farther into the Zone, the closer to heaven.”

“What?” He says.

“Pray!” I yell. “Stalkers cut in line at the gates of heaven!”

And he suddenly smiles and pats me on the back, as if to say, “Nothing will happen as long as you are with me, and if it does, well, we only die once.” God, he’s a funny guy.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“مشکل اینجاست که گذر سال ها رو متوجه نمی شیم. لعنت به گذر زمان. متوجه نمی شیم همه چی چطور تغییر می کنه. می دونیم تغییر اتفاق می افته، از بچگی تو گوشمون کردن همه چی در حال تغییره؛ خودمون هم تغییر پیدا کردن خیلی چیزها رو به چشم دیدیم. با این حال، درک کردن لحظه ای که تغییر اتفاق می افته، کاملا از توانمون خارجه. شاید هم تو جاهای اشتباه دنبال پیدا کردن تغییر می گردیم.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“معلوم شد دانشمندها هم می ترسن. شاید بهتره همین طور باشه. اون ها باید از کل ما آدم های عادی هم بیشتر بترسن. چون ما کلا نمی فهمیم، ولی اون ها حداقل می فهمن که چقدر نمی فهمن. اون ها یه نگاه به گودال بی انتها می ندازن و می دونن آخرش باید ازش برن پایین. شاید از این کار قلبشون به تپش بیفته، ولی باید انجامش بدن. مشکل اینجاست که نمی دونن ته گودال چی منتظرشونه و از اون مهم تر، آیا می تونن برگردن بالا؟ در این بین، ما گناهکارها به قول معروف رومون رو می کنیم اونور... شاید درستش هم همینه، نه؟ بذار همه چی مسیر طبیعی خودش رو طی کنه؛ ما هم راه خودمون رو به هر زحمتی شده پیدا می کنیم. ولی یه چیزی رو راست گفت: بزرگ ترین دستاورد بشر اینه که با وجود تمام اتفاق هایی که براش افتاده، زنده مونده و قصد زنده موندن داره.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“مردی که درست تربیت شده، شاید حاضر باشد هر چیزی بخواند. کسانی که با مشاهده ی چیزی که کاملا طبیعی است، وحشت زده و ناراحت می شوند، خودشان بدترین خوک ها و متخصص انحراف های جورواجور هستند. آن ها به بهانه ی اخلاق گرایی ساختگی و نفرت انگیزشان، محتوا را به کل نادیده می گیرند و دیوانه وار به واژه ها حمله می کنند.”
― Boris Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“Los halagos son el bálsamo de los complejos.”
― Boris Strugatzki, Roadside Picnic

“Que cada cual cuide de sí mismo y Dios de todos. Total, en este mundo lo que sobran son idiotas.”
― Boris Strugatzki, Roadside Picnic

“It was once said, and very rightly, that a man who is well brought-up may read anything. The only people who boggle at what is perfectly natural are those who are the worst swine and the finest experts in filth. In their utterly contemptible pseudo-morality they ignore the contents and madly attack individual words.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“We don’t belong here. There’s no good in the Zone.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“That’s exactly right. A man needs money in order to never think about it”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“Science fiction lends itself readily to imaginative subversion of any status quo.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“HAPPINESS, FREE, FOR EVERYONE, AND LET NO ONE BE FORGOTTEN!”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“There wasn’t a single thought in his head, and he had somehow stopped sensing himself.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“he had some thinking to do. An unaccustomed exercise, thinking, that was the trouble. What was "thinking" anyway? Thinking meant finding a loophole, pulling a bluff, pulling the wool over someone’s eyes -- but all that was out of place here.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“I mean, that is it, but what does it mean? What do I need? That’s cursing, not thinking. A terrible presentiment chilled him, and quickly skipping over the many arguments that were still ahead of him, he told himself angrily: this is how it is, Red, you won’t leave here until you figure it out, you’ll drop dead here next to the ball, burn to death and rot, but you won’t leave.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“He sat there, covering his eyes with his hands, and he was trying -- not to understand, not to think, but merely to see
something of how things should be, but all he saw were the faces, faces, faces, and more faces... and greenbacks, bottles, bundles of rags that were once people, and columns of figures. He knew that it all had to be destroyed, and he wanted to destroy it, but he guessed that if it all disappeared there would be nothing left but the flat, bare earth. His frustration and despair made him want to lean back against the ball. He got up, automatically brushed off his pants, and started down into the quarry.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“No és mi arról a véleménye, hogy az ember az állatoktól eltérően olyan élőlény, mely állandó tudásvágyat érez? Valahol olvastam erről.
– Én is – tette hozzá Valentin. – Azonban a baj gyökere nem ott van, hogy az ember, legalábbis az átlagember, könnyedén leküzdi ezt a tudásvágyat. Szerintem ilyen vágy egyáltalán nem létezik. Él bennünk viszont egy olyan vágy, mely arra ösztönöz, hogy igyekezzünk mindent megérteni, ehhez viszont nincs szükség tudásra. A feltételezés, hogy van isten, semmihez nem mérhető, nagyszerű lehetőséget nyújt arra, hogy mindent tökéletesen megértsünk, anélkül, hogy mindent tökéletesen megismernénk… Vázoljon az ember előtt egy végtelenül leegyszerűsített világmodellt, s magyarázzon minden eseményt ennek a leegyszerűsített modellnek a segítségével. Ehhez a megközelítéshez semmiféle ismeretre nincs szükség. Elég néhány betanult képlet, valamint az, amit intuíciónak nevezünk, gyakorlati érzék és az úgynevezett józan ész.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“Life is no finishing school for young ladies. Everyone speaks the way he is made. The protocol chief, Dr. Guth, speaks differently from Palivec, the landlord of The Chalice, and this novel is neither a handbook of drawing-room refinement nor a teaching manual of expressions to be used in polite society. . . . It was once said, and very rightly, that a man who is well brought-up may read anything. The only people who boggle at what is perfectly natural are those who are the worst swine and the finest experts in filth. In their utterly contemptible pseudo-morality they ignore the contents and madly attack individual words.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“Trebuie să schimbe totul. Nu o viață, nu două, nu un destin sau două destine. Trebuie schimbat fiecare șurub al acestei lumi infecte.”
― Arkadi Strugatki, Roadside Picnic

“тень «галоши» на колючки упала... Все, Зона! И сразу такой озноб по коже. Каждый раз у меня этот озноб, и до сих пор я не знаю, то ли это так Зона меня встречает, то ли нервишки у сталкера шалят. Каждый раз думаю: вернусь и спрошу, у”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Пикник на обочине

“Всё правильно: деньги нужны человеку для того, чтобы никогда о них не думать...”
― Boris Strugatsky; Arkadi Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“I remember I was drunk at the time, I’d been binging all week. I was really depressed . . . Aw, damn it, what does it matter!”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“Man is born in order to think (there he is, old Kirill at last!).”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“Redrick was not listening. What that thing was saying no longer had any meaning. It had no meaning before, either, but before it was a person at least. And now, it was like a talking key, a key to open the way to the Golden Ball. Let it talk.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“The slime was warm and sticky. At first they walked erect, waist-deep in the slime. Luckily the bottom was rocky and rather even. But soon Redrick heard the familiar rumble from both sides. There was nothing on the left hill except the intense sunlight, but on the right slope, in the shade, pale purple lights were fluttering. "Bend low!" he whispered and bent over himself. "Lower, stupid!" Arthur bent over in fright, and a clap of thunder shattered the air. Right over their heads an intricate lightning bolt danced furiously, barely visible against the bright sky. Arthur sat down, shoulder deep in the slime. Redrick, ears clogged by the noise, turned and saw a bright red spot quickly melting in the shade among the pebbles and rocks, and there was another thunderclap.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“He would have withstood it, and everything would have passed quietly and well, they would have gotten by with a lot of sweat, but Arthur couldn't take it. Either he had not heard Redrick's shout, or he became scared out of his wits, or maybe, he had been baked more strongly than Redrick—anyway he lost control and ran off blindly, with a scream deep in his throat, following his instinct—backward. The very direction they couldn't take. Redrick barely managed to rise and grab his ankle with both hands. Arthur fell down with the full weight of his body, raising a cloud of ashes, squealed in an unnatural voice, kicked Redrick in the face with his other foot, and struggled wildly. Redrick, not thinking clearly any more through the pain, crawled on top of him, touching the leather jacket with his burned face, trying to press the boy into the ground, holding his long hair with both hands and desperately kicking his feet and knees at Arthur's legs and his rear end and at the dirt. He could barely hear the muffled moans coming from beneath him and his own hoarse shouts: "Lie there, you toad, lie still, or I'll kill you." Tons and tons of hot coals were pouring over him, and his clothing was in flames and the leather of his shoes and jacket was blistering and cracking, and Redrick, his head mashed into the gray ash, his chest trying to keep the damn boy's head down, could not stand it. He yelled his lungs out.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“The fog was disappearing before their eyes. It was completely gone from the embankment and in the distance it was thinning, melting away and showing the rounded bristly peaks of the hills. Here and there between the hills could be seen the mottled surface of the stagnant swamps, covered with sparse thickets of willows, and the horizon, beyond the hills, was filled with bright yellow explosions of mountain peaks, and the sky above them was clear and blue. Arthur looked back and gasped with awe. Redrick looked too. In the east the mountains looked black, and over them the familiar green wash of color billowed and shone iridescently—the Zone's green dawn.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

“But the stupid orderlies, who had spent their time during the preliminary negotiations gawking at Guta washing the kitchen windows, grabbed the old man like a log when they were called in—and dropped him on the floor. Redrick went crazy. Then the jerk of a doctor volunteered an explanation of what was going on. Redrick listened for a minute or two and suddenly exploded without any warning like a hydrogen bomb. The assistant who told the story did not remember how he ended up on the street. The red devil got them all down the stairs, all five of them, and not one left under his own power. They all shot out of the foyer like cannonballs. Two ended up unconscious on the sidewalk and Redrick chased the other three for four blocks. Then he returned and bashed in all the windows on the institute car—the driver had made a run for it when he saw what was happening.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic