Hari Seldon
psychohistorian, founder of the Foundation
Quotes (Authored)
A. I have said, and I say again, that Trantor will lie in ruins within the next three centuries.
Q. You do not consider your statement a disloyal one?
A. No, sir. Scientific truth is beyond loyalty and disloyalty.
- Foundation
- p. 23 ("The Foundation Trilogy", Easton Press, 2003)
Q. [...] Can the overall history of the human race be changed?
A. Yes.
Q. Easily?
A. No. With great difficulty.
- Foundation
- p. 24 ("The Foundation Trilogy", Easton Press, 2003)
Even if the Empire were admitted to be a bad thing (an admission I do not make), the state of anarchy which would follow its fall would be worse. It is that state of anarchy which my project is pledged to fight. The fall of Empire, gentlemen, is a massive thing, however, and not easily fought. It is dictated by a rising bureaucracy, a receding initiative, a freezing of caste, a damming of curiosity—a hundred other factors. It has been going on, as I have said, for centuries, and it is too majestic and massive a movement to stop.
- Foundation
- p. 26 ("The Foundation Trilogy", Easton Press, 2003)
Politicians by the very nature of their work must have an instinctive feeling for the truths of psychohistory.
- Foundation
- p. 30 ("The Foundation Trilogy", Easton Press, 2003)