How we cite our quotes: (Volume.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
So some respectable dodo in the Mauritius might have lorded it in his nest, and discussed the arrival of that shipful of pitiless sailors in want of animal food. "We will peck them to death tomorrow, my dear." (1.7.33)
Is the narrator being fair here? Since he's looking back on his experiences in the Martian invasion, he can pick apart all his mistakes. (And they are mistakes.) But how can you avoid these sorts of flub-ups? It's interesting because, when you do science, you make mistakes. That's part of perfecting science. It's trial-and-error, right? Not trial-and-immediate-success. Yet, the mistakes people make in this novel don't lead to better knowledge. For instance, the narrator realizes he was as dumb as a dodo. How does realizing that help him avoid the same mistake?
Quote #8
The habit of personal security, moreover, is so deeply fixed in the Londoner's mind, and startling intelligence so much a matter of course in the papers, that they could read without any personal tremors… (1.14.7)
The narrator often criticizes foolishness, but in this passage he gives a more concrete identification of the problem. It's not just that Londoners are naturally complacent ("The habit of personal security"), but that the newspapers so often cry wolf ("startling intelligence so much a matter of course"). The newspapers raise alarms so often because they sell more papers that way. Basically, the narrator is saying that people are foolishly complacent because the newspapers so often make a big noise about nothing much.
Quote #9
[…] and the reader who thinks me susceptible and foolish must contrast his position, reading steadily with all his thoughts about his subject, and mine, crouching fearfully in the bushes and listening, distracted by apprehension. (2.7.75)
The narrator (and the other people in this book) might be pretty foolish at times, but we see why they're being foolish and we sympathize. The narrator, on the other hand, is awfully tough on people. That's why it's a bit surprising when he lets himself off the hook for being taken in by the artilleryman's terrible ideas. Why does the narrator let himself off the hook about this foolishness anyway?