Time Enough for Love
1974 Hugo and Nebula Award Nominee
Narrative Synopsis
Lazarus Long (Woodrow Wilson Smith), the Senior of the Howard Families, has lived for over two thousand years and has grown weary of living. His descendants refuse to allow him to die, striking a bargain: in exchange for submitting to rejuvenation, Lazarus will recount his vast memoirs, and they will present him with adventures he has never experienced before.
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
Notable Passage
Historical & Editorial Context
Contains the complete intercalary chapters known as "The Notebooks of Lazarus Long", widely quoted across modern philosophy and engineering circles.