--- title: "1 Neglected Opportunity Quotes By Ted Chiang" description: "1 Neglected Opportunity quotes by Ted Chiang. Plus more from Ted Chiang and more Neglected Opportunity sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/ted-chiang-11432_arrows_four-things-do-not-come-back-the-spoken_1490403.jpg" --- > [Four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/four-things-do-not-come-back-the-spoken-word-the-sped-arrow-the-past/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/ted-chiang-11432_arrows_four-things-do-not-come-back-the-spoken_1490403.jpg) ## More by Ted Chiang > [“The physical universe was a language with a perfectly ambiguous grammar. Every physical event was an utterance that could be parsed in two entirely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/the-physical-universe-was-a-language-with-a-perfectly-ambiguous/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [Women who work with animals hear this all the time: that their love for animals must arise out of a sublimated child-rearing urge. Ana's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/women-who-work-with-animals-hear-this-all-the-time-that-their-love/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [Contemplate the marvel that is existence, and rejoice that you are able to do so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/contemplate-the-marvel-that-is-existence-and-rejoice-that-you-are/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“Perhaps men were not meant to live in such a place. If their own natures restrained them from approaching heaven too closely, then men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/perhaps-men-were-not-meant-to-live-in-such-a-place-if-their-own/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [It is a misconception to think that during evolution humans sacrificed physical skill in exchange for intelligence: wielding one's body is a mental activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/it-is-a-misconception-to-think-that-during-evolution-humans/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“And then there will be the times when I see you laughing. Like the time you’ll be playing with the neighbor’s puppy, poking your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/and-then-there-will-be-the-times-when-i-see-you-laughing-like-the/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“When Arecibo is not listening to anything else, it hears the voice of creation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/when-arecibo-is-not-listening-to-anything-else-it-hears-the-voice-of/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [Similarly, knowledge of the future was incompatible with free will. What made it possible for me to exercise freedom of choice also made it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/similarly-knowledge-of-the-future-was-incompatible-with-free-will/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“the ray of light has to know where it will ultimately end up before it can choose the direction to begin moving”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/the-ray-of-light-has-to-know-where-it-will-ultimately-end-up-before/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“Yet through their endeavor, men would glimpse the unimaginable artistry of Yahweh's work, in seeing how ingeniously the world had been constructed. By this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/yet-through-their-endeavor-men-would-glimpse-the-unimaginable/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [Brain damage is never a good idea, no matter what your friends say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/brain-damage-is-never-a-good-idea-no-matter-what-your-friends-say/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“I would have liked to experience more of the heptapods' worldview, to feel the way they feel. Then, perhaps I could immerse myself fully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/i-would-have-liked-to-experience-more-of-the-heptapods-worldview-to/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“Branches are generated by any quantum event, right? Even before we had prisms, branches were still splitting off constantly; we just didn’t have access…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/branches-are-generated-by-any-quantum-event-right-even-before-we-had/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“Ease of learning isn’t the primary force in language evolution.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/ease-of-learning-isn-t-the-primary-force-in-language-evolution/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“The hush of the night sky is the silence of a graveyard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/the-hush-of-the-night-sky-is-the-silence-of-a-graveyard/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglected-opportunity/ted-chiang/#itemlist", "name": "1 Neglected Opportunity Quotes By Ted Chiang", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ted Chiang" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/four-things-do-not-come-back-the-spoken-word-the-sped-arrow-the-past/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/ted-chiang-11432_arrows_four-things-do-not-come-back-the-spoken_1490403.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/ted-chiang-11432_arrows_four-things-do-not-come-back-the-spoken_1490403.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/ted-chiang-11432_arrows_four-things-do-not-come-back-the-spoken_1490403.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.” — Ted Chiang", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglected-opportunity/ted-chiang/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglected-opportunity/ted-chiang/", "name": "Neglected Opportunity Quotes by Ted Chiang", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neglected-opportunity/ted-chiang/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/ted-chiang-11432_arrows_four-things-do-not-come-back-the-spoken_1490403.jpg" }, "description": "1 Neglected Opportunity quotes by Ted Chiang. 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