13 Quotes & Sayings By Jz Colby

J.Z. Colby was born in Portland, Maine in 1899 and lived in Portland throughout his life. He attended Bates College and Yale University. After graduating from Yale, he returned to Maine and worked as a medical editor for the Portland Journal and as a writer for the Portland Press Herald Read more

In 1938 he published his first novel, Square-Shaped Death, and for the next decade and a half wrote three more novels and numerous short stories. During World War II he served as a major in the U.S. Army Air Corps as an aviation photographer and as a public relations officer at various air bases throughout Europe.

He died on April 16, 1986.

1
I don't think Tera is capable of working with you by her own choice, no matter how much grass you pull for her, no matter how much you brush her. I think she's more like ... a three or four-year-old child, and you are her mother. Mothers must be firm with their children, sometimes make them do what needs to be done, sometimes even punish them. J.Z. Colby
2
I'm just a girl trying to learn where to put my feet ... and where not to. J.Z. Colby
3
The universe is so arranged that the power to destroy the climate or the ecosystem of your home planet only comes when you also have the wisdom to know that doing so is a fatal mistake. Therefore, any species that does that is suicidal, and will probably not qualify for any kind of help, from the powers of the universe, with fixing that error. J.Z. Colby
4
I come from a place where everyone has great power, by your standards, and they steadfastly refuse to use it for self-aggrandizement ... anywhere ... ever. J.Z. Colby
5
The world has many places that can make us uncomfortable. Calling them evil, or any other bad name, doesn’t make them go away. J.Z. Colby
6
On a ship, knowing when to be silent is just as important as knowing when to speak. J.Z. Colby
7
The sea is very beautiful and gives us many things, but it must be understood and respected, or it will slap you ... J.Z. Colby
8
No, this isn't right. I don't think the people doing it know or care about right and wrong. This is all some kind of show, but I don't understand it either. J.Z. Colby
9
If you can’t see the feelings in a donkey, a ship, or a delicate tool, then it’s just as easy to not see them in your brother or sister when you can profit by treating them badly. J.Z. Colby
10
No, I will finish what I started, here, at Glimpa’s Arch. The act belongs to me, the consequence, pleasing or not, belongs to the gods. J.Z. Colby
11
We only refer to sapient creatures as civilized when their society is willingly self-correcting. That means that any problem or imbalance that arises is fixed, and I mean really fixed - not ignored, not hidden, and not passed off to a future generation. J.Z. Colby
12
I can’t feel too sorry for them. Every gift has to run out someday. Anyone but a child knows that. J.Z. Colby