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

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

Brian Aldiss

Writing, Thinking, Two

25 Copy quote
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

19 Copy quote
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.

11 Copy quote
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

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

Brian Aldiss

Patriotic, Relax, Drink

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

14 Copy quote
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.

12 Copy quote
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.

9 Copy quote
The day of the android has dawned.

Brian Aldiss

Androids

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

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

Brian Aldiss

Fiction, Definitions, Hubris

7 Copy quote
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

11 Copy quote
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.

4 Copy quote
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.

9 Copy quote
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

10 Copy quote
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

11 Copy quote
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.

6 Copy quote
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")

8 Copy quote
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.

6 Copy quote
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

7 Copy quote
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

40 Copy quote
Science fiction is for real, space opera is for fun.

Brian Aldiss

Fun, Real, Space

7 Copy quote
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.

5 Copy quote
That's the artist's role - to strike out always for something new, to break away, to defy, to... grapple with the unfamiliar.

Brian Aldiss

Artist, Roles, Break

4 Copy quote
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)

4 Copy quote
When you are young, you enjoy a sustained illusion that sooner or later something marvelous is going to happen, that you are going to transcend your parents' limitations.

Brian Aldiss

Parent, Illusion, Young

Brian Wilson Aldiss (1985). “Helliconia Winter”, Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

4 Copy quote

You May Also Like:

Robert Silverberg

Arthur C. Clarke

Michael Moorcock

Brian Aldiss

Follow

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

Popular Topics