1a) Never throw shit at an armed man.1b) Never stand next to
someone who is throwing shit at an armed man.2) Never fire a laser at a
mirror.3) Mother Nature doesn't care if you're having
fun.4) F
x S = k. The product of Freedom and Security is a constant. To gain more
freedom of thought and/or action, you must give up some security, and vice
versa.
5) Psi and/or magical powers, if real, are nearly
useless. 6) It is easier to destroy than create. 7) Any damn fool can predict the past. 8) History never repeats
itself.9) Ethics change with technology.10)
Anarchy is the least stable of social structures. It falls apart at a
touch.11) There is a time and place for tact.
12) The ways of being human
are bounded but infinite.
13) The world's dullest subjects, in
order:
a) Somebody else's diet.
b) How to make money for a worthy
cause.
c) Special Interest Liberation.
14) The only
universal message in science fiction: There exist minds that think as well as
you do, but differently.
Niven's corollary: The gene-tampered turkey
you're talking to isn't necessarily one of them.
15) Fuzzy
Pink Niven's Law: Never waste calories.
16) There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool
following it.
17) No technique works if it isn't used.
18) Not responsible for advice not taken.
19)
Old age is not for
sissies.
Niven's Laws For Writers
1) Writers who write for other writers should write
letters.2) Never be embarrased or ashamed about anything you
choose to write. (Think of this
before you send it to a
market)
3) Stories to end all stories on a given topic,
don't.4) It is a sin to waste the reader's time.5)
If you've nothing to say, say it any way you like. Stylistic innovations,
contorted story lines or none, exoticor genderless pronouns, internal
inconsistencies, te recipe for preparing your lover as a cannibal banquet: feel
free.
If what you have to say is important and/or difficult to follow, use
the simplest language possible. If the reader doesn't get it then, let it
not be your fault.
6) Everybody talks first draft.