As for the historical inspirations I drew on in writing The Snow Queen, I suppose I would call them more cross-cultural inspirations, though they frequently involve past societies as well as present day ones. Joan D. Vinge More Quotes by Joan D. Vinge More Quotes From Joan D. Vinge In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is stoned to death. Joan D. Vinge land men civilization Indifference is the strongest force in the universe. It makes everything it touches meaningless. Love and hate don't stand a chance against it. Joan D. Vinge hate break-up love Throughout the ages, stories with certain basic themes have recurred over and over, in widely disparate cultures; emerging like the goddess Venus from the sea of our unconscious. Joan D. Vinge age sea culture Each time, storytellers clothed the naked body of the myth in their own traditions, so that listeners could relate more easily to its deeper meaning. Joan D. Vinge naked tradition body It doesn't matter. I'm not asking forever of you...just let me love you now. Joan D. Vinge asking forever love-you But our society does not grant nontraditional forms of intelligence equal recognition, no matter how much it would help us get along or truly enrich our lives. Joan D. Vinge our-society matter doe Studying anthropology, I developed a kind of holistic view of human existence, in which the dichotomies you listed are all necessary and vital aspects of life. Joan D. Vinge study kind views Fear of the unknown is a terrible fear. Joan D. Vinge fear-of-the-unknown terrible These days too many of us seem inclined to cover our ears, close our eyes, and blindly follow the most narrow, conservative tenets of religion or else seek comfort in the ancient traditions of New Age ritual. Joan D. Vinge eye age comfort Life scars us with its random motion, he thought. Only death is perfect. Joan D. Vinge scar perfect Here was a fragment of Goddess myth that, through all its permutations, had somehow escaped being turned on its head. It was the perfect springboard for the sort of novel I wanted to write. Joan D. Vinge goddess perfect writing Humans are upsetting a fragile balance that their own human ancestors established. Joan D. Vinge ancestor upset balance Everything born has to die, in order to make room for the future. Joan D. Vinge born order rooms Humans may be the only creatures on Earth who spend significant time thinking about the fact that someday their lives will end. Joan D. Vinge earth facts thinking I was thinking about what I wanted to write next, after my first novel, and had decided that I wanted to write a story with a lot of strong female characters in it. Joan D. Vinge strong writing character Moon is also a naive native girl when she sets out for Carbuncle. Joan D. Vinge naive girl moon Perhaps the thing that makes humans truly unique on Earth is that we are never satisfied with our situation; maybe that is what's taken us so far. Joan D. Vinge unique taken earth We are all born with a unique genetic blueprint, which lays out the basic characteristics of our personality as well as our physical health and appearance... And yet, we all know that life experiences do change us. Joan D. Vinge unique change personality What does immortality mean to me? That we all want more time; and we want it to be quality time. Joan D. Vinge quality want mean The ecosystem of our world is a closed system: it would run out of gas, collapse of its own weight. Joan D. Vinge ecosystems our-world running