Chapter 10 (p. 122)
“

Voluntary birth control methods only work on the people who choose to use ’em. A population check that doesn’t work on everybody doesn’t work at all, because it simply breeds out the ones who use it. The only population check that really works is one that affects everybody, like a limit of space or food.

— Damon Knight

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Voluntary birth control methods only work on the people who choose to use ’em. A population check that doesn’t work on everybody doesn’t work at all, because it simply breeds out the ones who use it. The only population check that really works is one that affects everybody, like a limit of space or food." in the context of "Chapter 10 (p. 122)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Damon Knight" (Quotes, A for Anything (1959): Original title: The People Maker. Page numbers from the first Avon printing, February 1980 ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Damon Knight

About Damon Knight

Damon Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan.