The Dark Forest Cixin.liu Quotes

You’re one of the calmest people I’ve ever met.” “The calmness comes from cynicism. There’s not much in the world that can make me care.

Mom, I'm going to be a firefly.

But in this dark forest, there's a stupid child named humanity, who has built a bonfire and is standing beside it shouting, 'Here I am! Here I am!

Now he saw only the stars and the headstones, the two greatest symbols of eternity.

Once we know where we are, then the world becomes as narrow as a map. When we don't know, the world feels unlimited.

Luo Ji now saw his problem: Where Darwin had taken the boundless living world and made a rule to sum it all up, Luo Ji now had to use the rules he knew to uncover a picture of cosmic civilization.

The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that block the path and trying to tread without sound. Even breathing is done with care. The hunter has to be careful, because everywhere in the forest are stealthy hunters like him. If he finds other life—another hunter, an angel or a demon, a delicate infant or a tottering old man, a fairy or a demigod—there’s only one thing he can do: open fire and eliminate them. In this forest, hell is other people. An eternal threat that any life that exposes its own existence will be swiftly wiped out. This is the picture of cosmic civilization. It’s the explanation for the Fermi Paradox.

El universo es un bosque oscuro. Cada civilización es un cazador armado que recorre el bosque como un fantasma, apartando delicadamente las ramas que le impiden el paso, intentando moverse sin emitir sonido. Incluso respira con mucho cuidado. El cazador debe ser precavido, porque el bosque está lleno de otros cazadores secretos como él. Si da con otra forma de vida, otro cazador, un ángel, o un demonio, un infante delicado o un anciano tambaleante, un hada o un semidiós, solo tiene una opción: abrir fuego y eliminarlo. En este bosque, el infierno son los otros. La amenaza eterna de que cualquier vida que revele su existencia será exterminada con rapidez. Esa es la imagen de las civilizaciones cósmicas. Es la explicación de la Paradoja de Fermi.

With a rocky change of direction, the vehicle of time veered off along a new track. The only constant in a world of tremendous change, is the swift passage of time.

Luo Ji gripped tightly to the match with two fingers as it burnt down. He needed the pain to know that this wasn't a dream. It was like he had ignited the sun, which now shone on a dream world turned reality. Outside, the sun could remain forever hidden by clouds and night, so long as his world had her, and the firelight in it.

When the devil does actually appear, the best option is calmness and rationality.

Without the fear of heights, there can be no appreciation for the beauty of high places.

Silence can be a powerful weapon, for in silence lies the truth that no words can express.

We belong to the Earth and the sea, you belong to the stars." "Is that bad?" "No. It's very good.

Bir kâbustan uyanmış küçük bir çocuğa dönüşmüş gibi hissetti kendini ve yaşadığı tüm o korkutucu şeyler bir yetişkinin gülümsemesiyle halledilebilirdi.

Evren karanlık bir ormandır. Her medeniyet ağaçların arasında gezinip takip eden silahlı bir avcıdır, tıpkı bir hayalet gibi, yolunu engelleyen dalları kenara iterek sessizce yürümeye çalışır. Nefesini bile itinayla alıp verir, avcı dikkatli olmak zorundadır. Çünkü ormanın her yerinde onun gibi gizli avcılar vardır. Eğer başka bir avcı, bir melek veya şeytan, bir bebek veya sendeleyen yaşlı bir adam, peri veya tanrı gibi başka bir hayat bulursa yapabileceği tek şey vardır: ateş açmak ve ortadan kaldırmak. Bu ormanda, cehennem diğer medeniyetlerdir. Kendini gösteren diğer canlı varlıkları hemen ortadan kaldırmaya çalışan sonsuz bir tehdittir her medeniyet. Bu, kozmik medeniyetin resmidir işte. Fermi Paradoksu için açıklamadır." Shi Qiang başka bir sigara yaktı, sadece biraz ışık olması için. "Ve bu karanlık ormanda, şenlik ateşini yakıp, "İşte buradayım! İşte buradayım!" diye bağıran ve tüm ilgiyi üzerine çekmeye çalışan insanlık denen aptal bir çocuk var," dedi. "Duyan var mı?" "Kesin. Ama bu sesler tek başına çocuğun konumunu belirlemek için kullanılamaz...

Yaşam için zaman yaratın, yaşam zaman ayırmayacağı için.

Ahead of them stretched the leaden road of tine, terminating somewhere in the mists of the future, where all they could see were flickering flames and luster of blood. The brevity of a human lifespan tormented them as never before, and their hearts soared above the vault of time to join with their descendants and plunge into blood and fire in the icy cold of space, the eventual meeting place for the souls of all soldiers.

No matter what changes befell the larger world, he could always immerse himself in his own and find contentment.

The fish that dried out the sea went onto land before they did this. They moved from one dark forest to another dark forest.

Perhaps seeds of love are present in other places in the universe. We ought to encourage them to sprout and grow.

Don’t try to forget about her. It won’t work. But as time passes, her influence on your life will decrease. And you’re actually quite lucky. Whether or not she really exists, you’re fortunate to be in love.

Again he was transfixed by her appearance in the firelight, drowned in emotions he had never felt before, as if he was a bonfire himself and the only purpose of his existence was to give her warmth.

I won't bring you glory, but I'll give you rest.

¿Era posible que la naturaleza fundamental de la materia no respondiera a ninguna ley? ¿Que la estabilidad y el orden del mundo no fuesen más que un equilibrio dinámico temporal, logrado en un rincón del universo, una anomalía dentro de una corriente caótica?

Momentos como aquel eran los de mayor soledad. En el profundo silencio de la medianoche, el universo se revelaba a quien estuviese escuchando como una vasta desolación.

Eso equivale a decir que la filosofía correcta viene dada del cielo. Se contradice con la idea de que la verdad emerge de la experiencia. Niega los principios con los que el mismo marxismo busca entender la naturaleza.

Muy pronto, aquellos jóvenes hombres y mujeres que un día estuvieron inflamados de fervor revolucionario descubrieron que, frente a la inmensidad del cielo y la tierra de esa región, incluso las más grandes ciudades del interior de China resultaban meros establos de ovejas; que en mitad de aquellos enormes y gélidos bosques y llanuras, su ardoroso entusiasmo era insignificante.

The outcome of natural biological evolution requires at least twenty thousand years to manifest itself, but human civilization has just five thousand years of history, and modern technological civilization just two hundred. That means that the study of modern science today is being done by the brain of primitive man.

...in our world, even if you express your true thoughts, you must do so in an appropriately euphemistic way.

Algunos de esos fragmentos presentaban rasguños, lo que indicaba que habían sucedido. Los detalles estaban frescos, pero las emociones habían desaparecido sin dejar rastro. El pasado era como un puñado de arena que creías estar aferrando con fuerza, pero que ya se había escapado entre los dedos. La memoria era un río largo tiempo seco, dejando solo guijarros dispersos en su lecho sin vida.

How could Van Gogh have painted such a thing in 1889? Did he, having suffered a second breakdown, truly leap across five centuries and see the sight before them using only his spirit and delirious consciousness? Or, maybe it was the opposite: He had seen the future, and the sight of this Last Judgment had caused his breakdown and eventual suicide.

The ultimate fate of all intelligent beings has always been to become as grand as their thoughts.

Dark. It’s so fucking dark,” the captain murmured, and then shot himself.

Without the fear of heights, there can be no appreciation for the beauty of high places.