Brian Aldiss Quotes

Quotes about:

Childhood Creativity Science Fiction Writing

Whatever creativity is, it is in part a solution to a problem.

Brian Aldiss

Success, Creativity, Ideas

Brian Aldiss (2013). “The Brightfount Diaries”, p.9, HarperCollins UK

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There are two kinds of writer: those that make you think, and those that make you wonder.

Brian Aldiss

Writing, Thinking, Two

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When childhood dies, its corpses are called adults and they enter society, one of the politer names of hell. That is why we dread children, even if we love them, they show us the state of our decay.

Brian Aldiss

Love, Fear, Children

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Civilization is the distance man has placed between himself and his excreta.

Brian Aldiss

Distance, Men, Civilization

"The Dark Light Years". Book by Brian Aldiss, 1964.

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The fatal error of much science fiction has been to subscribe to an optimism based on the idea that revolution, or a new gimmick, or a bunch of strong men, or an invasion of aliens, or the conquest of other planets, or the annihilation of half the world--in short, pretty nearly anything but the facing up to the integral and irredeemable nature of mankind--can bring about utopian situations. It is the old error of the externalization of evil.

Brian Aldiss

Strong, Men, Ideas

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Relax, enjoy yourself. Have another drink. It's patriotic to overconsume.

Brian Aldiss

Patriotic, Relax, Drink

"Greybeard". Chapter 4. Book by Brian Aldiss, 1964.

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Science fiction is no more written for scientists than ghost stories are written for ghosts.

Brian Aldiss

Science, Ghost Stories, Fiction

1961 Penguin Science Fiction, introduction.

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However you envisage your role in life, all you can do is perform it as best you can.

Brian Aldiss

Roles, Roles In Life, Can Do

"Greybeard". Book by Brian Aldiss, 1964.

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Why had I become a writer in the first place? Because I wasn't fit for society; I didn't fit into the system.

Brian Aldiss

Society, Firsts, Fit

"The Twinkling of an Eye: My Life as an Englishman". Book by Brian Aldiss, 1998.

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The day of the android has dawned.

Brian Aldiss

Androids

"Are You An Android?". Science Fantasy #34, April 1959.

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My briefest ever definition of science fiction is 'Hubris clobbered by Nemesis.'

Brian Aldiss

Fiction, Definitions, Hubris

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I've no objection to morality, except that it's obsolete.

Brian Aldiss

Morality, Obsolete, Objections

Brian Aldiss (2011). “Greybeard”, p.73, Hachette UK

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Its at night, when perhaps we should be dreaming, that the mind is most clear, that we are most able to hold all our life in the palm of our skull. I dont know if anyone has ever pointed out that great attraction of insomnia before, but it is so; the night seems to release a little more of our vast backward inheritance of instincts and feelings; as with the dawn, a little honey is allowed to ooze between the lips of the sandwich, a little of the stuff of dreams to drip into the waking mind.

Brian Aldiss

Love, Dream, Sleep

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When childhood dies, its corpses are called adults.

Brian Aldiss

Life, Kids, Unhappy Childhood

"Billion Year Spree : The History of Science Fiction". Book by Brian Aldiss, 1973.

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That is why we dread children, even if we love them. They show us the state of our decay.

Brian Aldiss

Children, Unhappy Childhood, Decay

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Science fiction is the search for a definition of mankind and his status in the universe which will stand in our advanced but confused state of knowledge (science), and is characteristically cast in the Gothic or post Gothic mode.

Brian Aldiss

Confused, Fiction, Definitions

Brian Wilson Aldiss (1995). “The Detached Retina: Aspects of SF and Fantasy”, p.72, Syracuse University Press

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I was hardly fit for human society. Thus destiny shaped me to be a science fiction writer.

Brian Aldiss

Destiny, Fiction, Fit

"The Twinkling of an Eye: My Life as an Englishman". Book by Brian Aldiss, 1998.

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Science fiction is for real, space opera is for fun.

Brian Aldiss

Fun, Real, Space

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It is comparatively easy to become a writer; staying a writer, resisting formulaic work, generating ones own creativity - thats a much tougher matter.

Brian Aldiss

Stay Strong, Writing, Creativity

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Keep violence in the mind Where it belongs (Barefoot in the Head)

Brian Aldiss

Mind, Violence, Barefoot

Barefoot in the Head (1969) (last lines of concluding poem "Charteris")

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To be a standard shape is not all in life. To know is also important.

Brian Aldiss

Important, Shapes, Standards

"Hothouse". Book by Brian Aldiss, 1962.

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Let's have a toast - to the future generation of consumers, however many heads or assholes they have!

Brian Aldiss

Generations, Consumers, Future Generation

Brian Aldiss (2011). “Greybeard”, p.68, Hachette UK

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It is at night... that the mind is most clear, that we are most able to hold all our life in the palm of our skull.

Brian Aldiss

Sleep, Night, Skulls

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Most SF is about madness, or what is currently ruled to be madness; this is part of its attraction - it's always playing with how much the human mind can encompass.

Brian Aldiss

Mind, Madness, Humans

"In Conversation: Brian Aldiss & James Blish". Cypher, October 1973.

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When knowledge becomes formulated into a science, then it does take on a life of it's own, often alien to the human spirit that conceived it.

Brian Aldiss

Doe, Spirit, Aliens

Brian Wilson Aldiss (1974). “Frankenstein Unbound”, Random House (NY)

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Born: August 18, 1925
Occupation: Film writer
Cite this Page: Citation

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