Belief initiates and guides action - or it does nothing. Octavia Butler More Quotes by Octavia Butler More Quotes From Octavia Butler I'm a pessimist if I'm not careful, a feminist, a Black,...an oil-and-water combination of ambition, laziness, insecurity, certainty, and drive. Octavia Butler oil-and-waterfeministambition Change is the one unavoidable, irresistible, ongoing reality of the universe. To us, that makes it the most powerful reality, and just another word for God. Earthseed: The Books of the Living Lauren Oya Olamina Octavia Butler powerfulbookreality Here I was into astronomy, and here into anthropology, and there I go into geology. It was much more fun to be able to research and write about whatever I wanted to. Octavia Butler researchwritingfun To get along with God, Consider the consequences of your behavior. Earthseed: The Books of the Living Octavia Butler consequencebehaviorbook He was like me - a kindred spirit crazy enough to keep on trying. Octavia Butler crazyspirittrying Souls! When have you seen your own soul - that you're so certain you have one? Octavia Butler certainsoul Religion kept some of my relatives alive, because it was all they had. If they hadn't had some hope of heaven, some companionship in Jesus, they probably would have committed suicide, their lives were so hellish. Octavia Butler suicideheavenjesus But my problem with fantasy, and horror, and related genres, is that sometimes the problems are illogical. Octavia Butler genre-isfantasyproblem I was raised Baptist, and I like the fact that I got my conscience installed early. Octavia Butler baptistsraisedfacts I began reading science fiction before I was 12 and started writing science fiction around the same time. Octavia Butler readingwritingfiction Well, writing was what I wanted to do, it was always what I wanted to do. I had novels to write so I wrote them. Octavia Butler wellsnovelwriting No one was going to stop me from writing and no one had to really guide me towards science fiction. It was natural, really, that I would take that interest. Octavia Butler naturalwritingfiction On the other hand, I was very much interested in the way people behaved, the human dance, how they seemed to move around each other. I wanted to play around with that. Octavia Butler danceinspirationalmoving Dad decided not to vote for Donner after all. He didn't vote for anyone. He said politicians turned his stomach. Octavia Butler votedadpolitician I wasn't trying to work out my own ancestry. I was trying to get people to feel slavery. I was trying to get across the kind of emotional and psychological stones that slavery threw at people. Octavia Butler work-outemotionalpeople Sometimes, one must become a master to avoid becoming a slave. Octavia Butler slavebecomingsometimes Third, for people who aren't doing it already, take classes - they're worthwhile. Workshops or classes - a workshop is where you do actually get feedback on your work, not just something where you go and sit for a day. Octavia Butler feedbackclasspeople The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way. Octavia Butler conditionalwayfiction Science fiction let me do both. It let me look into science and stick my nose in everywhere. Octavia Butler noseslooksfiction I would never have been a good scientist - my attention span was too short for that. Octavia Butler scientisttoo-shortattention
