David Gerrold



Jerrold David Friedman (born 24 January 1944, in Chicago, Illinois), better known by his pen name David Gerrold, is an American science fiction author.

The Further Adventures of Mr. Costello
Page numbers from the reprint in Gardner Dozois, The Year’s Best Science Fiction 34 (originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September-October 2016)
 * Don’t push the on-button if you don’t know where the off-button is.
 * p. 224


 * The way I heard it, a contract is a list of all the ways two people don’t trust each other.
 * p. 228

When HARLIE Was One (1972)

 * There are no section numbers in this book. The sections are numbered here for ease of reference. All page numbers are from the hardcover first edition published by Nelson Doubleday
 * All small caps are as in the original, and indicated typed dialogue between the human Dr. Auberson and the computer HARLIE
 * Nominated for the 1973 Hugo Award and the 1973 Nebula Award.


 * Section 2 (p. 5; typed by HARLIE in answer to the question
 * Section 2 (p. 5; typed by HARLIE in answer to the question


 * There isn’t a tool built that can’t be used as a weapon.
 * Section 5 (p. 19)


 * “You could call it that,” Auberson sighed. It wouldn’t be correct, but you could call it that.
 * Section 7 (p. 32)


 * “Whatever our purpose, we probably aren’t fulfilling it. We’re not functioning as we should.” He shrugged at her. “How should we function?” “Like human beings.” She said it righteously. “Isn’t that what the human race is already doing? Functioning like human beings—squabbling with each other, killing each other, hating...?” “That’s not human.” “Oh, but it is. It’s very human.” “Well, it’s not what human should be.” “Now that’s a different story. You’re not talking about what people are, but what you want them to be.” “Well, maybe we should be what we aren’t because what we are now isn’t good enough. Maybe we should be dismantled.” “I don’t think we have to worry too much about somebody up there doing it—we’re doing it ourselves.”
 * Section 8 (p. 39)


 * Section 15 (p. 71; Dr. Auberson's question; HARLIE's answer)
 * Section 15 (p. 71; Dr. Auberson's question; HARLIE's answer)


 * Section 15 (p. 72; Dr. Auberson, then HARLIE)
 * Section 15 (p. 72; Dr. Auberson, then HARLIE)


 * Section 15 (p. 75; Dr. Auberson, then HARLIE)
 * Section 15 (p. 75; Dr. Auberson, then HARLIE)


 * Section 15 (p. 76; HARLIE)
 * Section 15 (p. 76; HARLIE)


 * Auberson’s first impression of the man was of eight pounds of potatoes in a ten-pound sack.
 * Section 16 (p. 82)


 * Ah well—the boss didn’t have to know how to run the business. He only needed to know how to run the people who knew.
 * Section 18 (p. 103)


 * Section 20 (pp. 122-123; Dr. Auberson)
 * Section 20 (pp. 122-123; Dr. Auberson)


 * Section 21 (p. 149; Dr. Auberson)
 * Section 21 (p. 149; Dr. Auberson)


 * It was not an unfamiliar sensation, but it was strange to feel it in the daytime. Mostly, it was a nighttime visitor, an ever-gentle gnawing at the back of the head that had to be always guarded against, lest its realization sweep forth with a cold familiar rush. It was the sudden startling glimpse over the edge—the realization that death is inevitable, that it happens to everyone, that it would happen to me too; that someday, someday, the all-important I (the center of the whole thing) would cease to exist. Would stop. Would end. Would no longer be. Nothing. Nobody. Finished. Death.
 * Section 23 (p. 164)


 * HARLIE continued,
 * Section 31 (p. 186; HARLIE)


 * Section 31 (p. 187; Dr. Auberson)
 * Section 31 (p. 187; Dr. Auberson)


 * Not that he was jealous of the machine—but it was reassuring to know that there was still something that human beings could do that machines could not master. Love.
 * Section 32 (p. 189)


 * I’ve always suspected that Judas was the most faithful of the apostles, and that his betrayal of Jesus was not a betrayal at all, simply a test to prove that Christ could not be betrayed. The way I see it, Judas hoped and expected that Christ would have worked some kind of miracle and turned away those soldiers when they came for him. Or perhaps he would not die on the cross. Or perhaps—well, never mind. In any case, Jesus didn’t do any of these things, probably because he was not capable of it. You see, I’ve also always believed that Christ was not the son of God, but just a very very good man, and that he had no supernatural powers at all, just the abilities of any normal human being. When he died, that’s when Judas realized that he had not been testing God at all—he’d been betraying a human being, perhaps the best human being. Judas’s mistake was in wanting too much to believe in the powers of Christ. He wanted Christ to demonstrate to everyone that he was the son of God, and he believed his Christ could do it—only his Christ wasn’t the son of God and couldn’t do it, and he died. You see, it was Christ who betrayed Judas—by promising what he couldn’t deliver. And Judas realized what he had done and hung himself. That’s my interpretation of it, Auberson—not the traditional, I’ll agree, but it has more meaning to me. Judas’s mistake was in believing too hard and not questioning first what he thought were facts. I don’t intend to repeat that mistake.
 * Section 37 (p. 216)


 * Now you see why I hate to leave my lab. It tires me out too much to have to do other people’s thinking for them.
 * Section 41 (p. 235)

The Man Who Folded Himself (1973)

 * There are no chapter numbers in this book. All page numbers are from the 2003 trade paperback edition published by BenBella Books


 * Life is full of little surprises. Time travel is full of big ones.
 * (p. 46)


 * You aren’t really jumping through time, that’s the illusion; what you’re actually doing is leaving one timestream and jumping to—maybe even creating—another. The second one is identical to the one you just left, including all of the changes you made in it—up to the instant of your appearance. At that moment, simply by the fact of your existence in it, the second timestream becomes a different timestream. You are the difference.
 * (p. 48)


 * I also know that Christianity has held back any further advances in human consciousness for the past thousand years. And for the past century it’s been in direct conflict with its illegitimate offspring, Communism (again with a capital C). Both ask the individual to sacrifice his self-interest to the higher goals of the organization. (Which is okay by me as long as it’s voluntary; but as soon as either becomes too big—and takes on that damned capital C—they stop asking for cooperation and start demanding it.) Any higher states of human enlightenment have been sacrificed between these two monoliths.
 * (p. 73)


 * I think I exist, therefore I exist. I think.
 * (p. 79)


 * I wish I could change it all. I wish I could. But I can’t. Dammit. Now I know what it’s like to have an indelible past—one that can’t be erased and changed at will. It’s frustrating. It’s maddening. And it makes me wish I had been more careful and thoughtful.
 * (p. 100)


 * Death comes black and hard, rushing down on me from the future, with no possible chance of escape.
 * (p. 109)


 * You cannot avoid mortality. But you can choose your way of meeting it. And that is the most that any man can hope for. Live well, my son.
 * (p. 114)


 * I’ve always felt that anyone who wants to talk about my private life is only demonstrating the paucity of his/her imagination when there are so many more important and exciting things to discuss.
 * (in the Afterword, p. 117)

Miscellaneous

 * Love isn't what you get. It's what you create.
 * Facebook post 26 Jan. 2019.
 * There are only two times when it's appropriate for a man to have his nose in a woman's vagina. The first time is when he's stark naked and weighs about 7 lbs.
 * The second time is by mutual consent.
 * Facebook post 4 May 2022.
 * Life must be a daring adventure or it is nothing at all. It's always a choice between joy and despair. I tried despair. Joy is more fun.
 * Facebook post 2 July 2022.
 * Every human being is unique. We can generalize at length, but every human being is an individual. And this is especially true about children -- every child develops in their own unique way.
 * Facebook post 20 September 2022.