''Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.'' -Matthew 7:1-5

A more readable translation (NAB): ''Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? ''

''You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will clearly see to remove the splinter from your brother's eye.''

The message, behind the semitic exaggerations, is that we should be more mindful of our own faults than those of others.

A ''mote'' is a tiny speck. The above quotation is in a sense, the entire message of TheMoteInGodsEye.

''It has been a while since I read TheMoteInGodsEye and I don't remember much of the details. In what sense is the above quote the message of the novel?''

The book mentioned the quotation, all right - in a derogatory way.  Apparently English usage had drifted enough that it was no longer possible to even make sense of it without the help of a linguist.  The book's title refers to the fact that it was set in a pre-existing universe established by JerryPournelle; the inspiration for the book was the fact that LarryNiven realized Pournelle's physics allowed him to create a thriving, millennia-old alien civilization right within the heart of Pournelle's interstellar human empire.  (The only "transfer point" allowing a hyperspace jump to the alien solar system was within a star, making it difficult to get to.)  "God's Eye" was a constellation visible from some parts of human space; the alien system was a faint star in the corner of that constellation. So they called it "the mote".  The double meaning, of course, is that the aliens were something of immense significance, totally overlooked. -- DanielKnapp

It wasn't exactly the heart of the Empire. The Trans-Coalsack worlds were very much on the outer fringes of the Empire of Man (largely because all the Alderson routes went around the Coalsack, not through it). Furthermore, it wasn't really totally overlooked; on the one hand, the collapse of the First Empire occurred just as Murcheson's expedition was getting underway. On the other, the First Empire wasn't as advanced in Langston Field technology as the Second (one of the few areas that didn't fall back), so they may not have been able to do the solar plunge anyway. On the gripping hand, the Moties sent their probe to New Scotland almost as soon as they realised there was someone there. Given the circumstances, the Mote was found very rapidly.

Another double meaning: the humans were so concerned about hiding their own warlike tendencies and history (the mote) that they didn't notice the true nature of Motie society (the beam) until ''after'' they left. The message here of course that while not judging is all well and good, sometimes you have to judge anyway. -- RobertWatkins

''I thought the Mote was the beam that propelled the alien ship's lightsails, and that far from being overlooked, it sparked something of a religion.  Did we read the same book?''

* The Mote was the name given to the planet (and the system (and the race(s))) by the humans. There had been the huge laser, and it did spark a minor religion. The "beam" referred to is not the laser beam, but a metaphorical lump of wood.  Yes, you did read the same book - you are largely talking past each other.