Quotes

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.

Quotes: Books Do Something for the Human Brain

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“Books do something for the human brain that nothing else can. With books comes happiness, and people build empathy for one another. [We’re trying to offer] new perspectives and reignite an enthusiasm for reading.”

– Alicia Tapia

Books make your world larger. What a delightful excuse to read. 🙂

Quote attributed to GOOD Magazine, found via American Libraries November / December 2015, p. 28. Alicia Tapia is a librarian in San Francisco, CA and heads the Bibliobicicleta initiative.

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.

Quotes: Archers String Their Bows Only When They Need Them

Erik

This was how Amasis managed the affairs of the Egyptians: from dawn until midday he handled all the matters that were brought before him; the rest of the day he gave over to drinking and joking with his companions.

His advisers, being vexed by his behavior, admonished him: “Majesty, it is not right that you should behave so foolishly. You should be seated on your august throne throughout the day conducting affairs of state. Thus the Egyptians would be certain that they are ruled by a great man and you would have a better reputation. What you do now is not at all kingly.”

But he replied: “Archers string their bows only when they need them. If they were kept strung all the time, bows would snap and be of no use when needed. It is the same with people: if you try to be serious all the time and not allow yourself a share of relaxation, you will surely either go insane or fall dead of a stroke. Knowing this, I take both business and leisure in turn.”

– Herodotus, The Histories 2.173

 

The Egyptian king Amasis, as reported by Herodotus, giving some good advice about making time for yourself.

Quotes: Things Were Never Just What People Said with Words

Eppu

“I was here alone and Evan wasn’t going to protect me. He never had. He wanted things from me, like everyone else. But those things were never just what people said with words. Everything about it, instead, was meant to manipulate you to feel something you wouldn’t otherwise feel, and screw up your steady, rational thoughts.”

– Karin Lowachee: Warchild

Protagonist Jos struggles with the pervasiveness of childhood traumas years after the events.

Lowachee, Karin. Warchild. New York, NY: Warner Books, 2002, p. 329.

(This quote comes from my 21 new-to-me SFF authors reading project.)

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.

Quotes: Shrug off the Condescension that People Have toward ‘Lower’ Genres

Eppu

“On the verge of débuting his late, lamented sci-fi series ‘Firefly,’ which was cancelled after less than one season of Fox mismanagement, Joss Whedon remarked that his goal was not to create ‘grownup’ TV but to ‘invade people’s dreams’ – to create mythologies, which last so much longer than the mortal form of a TV series. Cult shows, such as ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Community,’ often have this quality: they shrug off the condescension that people have toward their ‘lower’ genres, using their constraints to find a greater freedom. When you look at a show like that from a distance, it might seem too narrow to contain much of interest. But it’s so much larger when you’re on the inside.”

– Emily Nussbaum

Two thoughts. One: Ha, Joss Whedon wants to do a George Lucas. Two: Just like, say, fly fishing might look narrow on the outside, there are hidden depths and intricacies in just about any hobby or interest. Not sure why it’s still such a surprise to those condescending types.

Nussbaum, Emily. “Fantastic voyage: ‘Doctor Who,’ ‘Community,’ and the passionate fan,” The New Yorker (June 4 & 11, 2012) 127.

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.

Quotes: Shooting People Was Such a Stupid Activity

Eppu

“Shooting people was such a stupid activity, why should everybody–anybody!–be so impressed? Silver wondered irritably. You would think she had done something truly great, like discover a new treatment for black-stem rot.”

– Lois McMaster Bujold: Falling Free

Silver, one of the genetically engineered, learning-oriented people known as quaddies, expresses her deep dislike of violence.

Bujold, Lois McMaster: Falling Free. Riverdale, NY: Baen, 1988, p. 266.

(This quote comes from my 21 new-to-me SFF authors reading project.)

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.

Quotes: You Can’t Unite Woman and Human

Eppu

“There is the vanity training, the obedience training, the self-effacement training, the deference training, the dependency training, the passivity training, the rivalry training, the stupidity training, the placation training. How am I to put this together with my human life, my intellectual life, my solitude, my transcendence, my brains, and my fearful, fearful ambition? I failed miserably and thought it was my own fault. You can’t unite woman and human any more than you can unite matter and anti-matter; they are designed not to be stable together and they make just as big an explosion inside the head of the unfortunate girl who believes in both.”

– Joanna Russ: The Female Man

A somber view of what it’s to be an intelligent, determined woman in a world run by men who don’t recognize their value.

Russ, Joanna: The Female Man. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1975, p. 151.

(This quote comes from my 21 new-to-me SFF authors reading project.)

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.

Quotes: She Was Born a Thing

Eppu

“She was born a thing and as such would be condemned if she failed to pass the encephalograph test required of all newborn babies. There was always the possibility that though the limbs were twisted, the mind was not, that though the ears would hear only dimly, the eyes see vaguely, the mind behind them was receptive and alert.”

– Anne McCaffrey: The Ship Who Sang

The opening sentence of the titular, first story in the collection.

McCaffrey, Anne: The Ship Who Sang. New York, NY: Del Rey, 1969 [stories originally published between 1961 and 1969], p. 1.

(This quote comes from my 21 new-to-me SFF authors reading project.)

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.

Quotes: An Agreed, Understood Silence

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“Secrecy in Karhide is to an extraordinary extent a matter of discretion, of an agreed, understood silence – an omission of questions, yet not an omission of answers.”

– Ursula K. Le Guin: The Left Hand of Darkness

In the country of Karhide on planet Gethen, acceptable modes of behavior and communication—and through them, people’s social standing—depend on what isn’t said as much as what is. In that sense, the world reminds me of Jane Austen’s novels, where discretion and the ability to read other people’s reactions are highly valued. And as a Finn, I certainly know and sympathize with an understood silence. In Finland, silence—even beyond an understood silence—is normal. In the U.S., for me, silence is a way to connect to my home country and therefore a solace.

Le Guin, Ursula K.: The Left Hand of Darkness. New York, NY: Ace Books, 1976 [originally published 1969], p. 287.

(This quote comes from my 21 new-to-me SFF authors reading project.)

This post has been edited to correct spelling errors and for style.

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.

Quotes: Don’t Have to Understand Things for Them to Be

Eppu

“I don’t understand it any more than you do, but one thing I’ve learned is that you don’t have to understand things for them to be.”

– Madeleine L’Engle: A Wrinkle in Time

Ain’t that the truth! (Understanding does help, though, I find.)

L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time. New York, NY: Square Fish, 2007 [originally published 1969], p. 29.

(This quote comes from my 21 new-to-me SFF authors reading project.)

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.

Quotes: That Is a Strange Country

Eppu

“I would say that [the Russians] are located somewhere near the Baltic Sea. There are old trade routes there, and in our own time it is a territory closed to us. Their installation may be close to the Finnish border. They could disguise their modern station under half a dozen covers; that is a strange country.”

– Andre Norton: The Time Traders

Did Andre Norton just insult Russia? (And yay, Finland was mentioned!)

Norton, Andre. The Time Traders / Galactic Derelicts [omnibus edition]. Riverdale, NY: Baen Books, 2000 [originally published 1958 / 1959].

(This quote comes from my 21 new-to-me SFF authors reading project. Note: A free e-version is available via Baen Books.)

This post has been edited for clarity.

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.