My great-aunt. . . . said nobody under 18 had any business reading Dickens. . . . She was right. Ursula K. Le Guin More Quotes by Ursula K. Le Guin More Quotes From Ursula K. Le Guin I was in too much haste, and now have no time left. I traded all the sunlight and the cities and the distant lands for a handful of power, for a shadow, for the dark. Ursula K. Le Guin landcitiesdark We of Es Toch tell a little myth, which says that in the beginning the Creator told a great lie. For there was nothing at all, but the Creator spoke, saying, It exists. And behold, in order that the lie of God might be God's truth, the universe at once began to exist. Ursula K. Le Guin littlesorderlying The notion that a story has a message assumes that it can be reduced to a few abstract words, neatly summarized in a school or college examination paper or a brisk critical review. Ursula K. Le Guin papercollegeschool Realism is a very sophisticated form of literature, a very grown-up one. And that may be its weakness. But fantasy seems to be eternal and omnipresent and always attractive to kids. Ursula K. Le Guin literaturemaykids It's not a weapon or a woman can make a man, or magery either, or any power, anything but himself. Ursula K. Le Guin either-orweaponsmen Artists are people who are not at all interested in the facts - only in the truth. Ursula K. Le Guin artistfactspeople Art and Entertainment are the same thing, in that the more deeply and genuinely entertaining a work is, the better art it is. To imply that Art is something heavy and solemn and dull, and Entertainment is modest but jolly and popular, is neo-Victorian idiocy at its worst. Ursula K. Le Guin entertainmentdullart You cannot blame everything on the enemy. Ursula K. Le Guin blameresponsibilityenemy When the genuine myth rises into consciousness, that is always its message. You must change your life. Ursula K. Le Guin changing-your-lifeconsciousnessmessages We scarcely know how much of our pleasure and interest in life comes to us through our eyes until we have to do without them; and part of that pleasure is that the eyes can choose where to look. But the ears can't choose where to listen. Ursula K. Le Guin eyeearslooks For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead Kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved? Will you punish us for that? Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate? No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of deserving, the idea of earning, and you will begin to be able to think. Ursula K. Le Guin kingsmenthinking The use of imaginative fiction is to deepen your understanding of your world, and your fellow men, and your own feelings, and your destiny. Ursula K. Le Guin empathydestinymen If one believes that words are acts, as I do, then one must hold writers responsible for what their words do. Ursula K. Le Guin responsibleifsbelieve The future has become uninhabitable. Such hopelessness can arise, I think, only from an inability to face the present, to live in the present, to live as a responsible being among other beings in this sacred world here and now, which is all we have, and all we need, to found our hope upon. Ursula K. Le Guin sacredfuturethinking There are two kinds of knowledge, local and universal. Ursula K. Le Guin universalkindtwo To learn a belief without the belief is to sing a song without the tune. Ursula K. Le Guin tunesmindsong Dragons are more dangerous, and a good deal commoner, than bears. Fantasy is nearer to poetry, to mysticism, and to insanity than naturalistic fiction is. It is a real wilderness, and those who go there should not feel too safe. Ursula K. Le Guin dragonsrealinsanity Fantasy is a literature particularly useful for embodying and examining the real difference between good and evil. In an America where our reality may seem degraded to posturing patriotism and self-righteous brutality, imaginative literature continues to question what heroism is, to examine the roots of power, and to offer moral alternatives. Imagination is the instrument of ethics. There are many metaphors besides battle, many choices besides war, and most ways of doing good do not, in fact, involve killing anybody. Fanstasy is good at thinking about those other ways. Ursula K. Le Guin realwarthinking Sometimes I not only stand there and take it, I even smile at them and say I'm sorry. When I feel that smile coming onto my face, I wish I could take my face off and stamp on it. Ursula K. Le Guin sorrywishfaces Paradise is for those who make paradise. Ursula K. Le Guin paradise
