Henry Kuttner quotes - page 2

Henry Kuttner was an American author renowned for his influential contributions to science fiction, fantasy, and horror literature. His imaginative stories often blurred genres and were marked by wit and psychological depth. He greatly impacted the development of speculative fiction, both independently and in collaboration with his wife, C.L. Moore. Here are 40 of his quotes:

It took the Face of Ea - which I shall never be able to describe fully. I saw it, though. I saw it...

Henry Kuttner

They dare'd not invade the palace while the globe shone, for the light-rays would have killed them.

Henry Kuttner

The Face was painful to see. It was too intricate, too involved with emotions complex beyond our grasp.

Henry Kuttner

A closer inspection would have shown more significant details.

Henry Kuttner

I'm going forward. I know - because I went.

Henry Kuttner

They are masters of the earthquake, and Atlantis rests on none too solid a foundation. Their power is sufficient to sink Atlantis forever beneath the sea.

Henry Kuttner

All these things were slipping away from him, in a clear, cold wisdom that came from beyond the stars. He envisioned man as a bit of animate clay moving fro a little while upon a ball of mud and stone and water that drifted through the void, through the darkness that would finally engulf it.

Henry Kuttner

They dare'd not invade the palace while the globe shone, for the light-rays would have killed them. ... This island-continent would have gone down beneath the sea long ago if I hadn't pitted my magic and my science against that of the children of Dagon. They are masters of the earthquake, and Atlantis rests on none too solid a foundation. Their power is sufficient to sink Atlantis forever beneath the sea. But within that room" - Zend nodded toward the curtain that hid the sea-bred horrors - "in that room there is power far stronger than theirs. I have drawn strength from the stars, and the cosmic sources beyond the universe. You know nothing of my power. It is enough - more than enough - to keep Atlantis steady on its foundation, impregnable against the attacks of Dagon's breed. They have destroyed other lands before Atlantis.

Henry Kuttner

If a scientifically trained observer sees a gun go off for the first time, he should be able-theoretically, anyway-to work out a formula for gunpowder.

Henry Kuttner

Then I knew that the last test of sanity had failed me, for it was no longer possible to tell the unreal from the real. The last test fails when the illusion moves into life itself and you can touch and feel and handle the commercial vision as if she were the real woman. There was no defense any more.

Henry Kuttner

I never understood the ultimate answer. That was beyond me. It took the combined skills of three great civilizations far apart in time to frame that godlike concept in which the tangible universe itself was only a single factor. And even then it was not enough. It took the Face of Ea - which I shall never be able to describe fully. I saw it, though. I saw it...

Henry Kuttner

I'm going forward. I know - because I went. It was a wonderful world they had. I want to see more of it. I want to wake up in a time when the race of man is spreading through the galaxy, leaping across the gulfs between the stars, opening the gates to all the worlds. I want to and I will.

Henry Kuttner

Her hands came out of her sleeves. There was a rod of blinding silver in each. Before I could stir she had brought the rods together, crossing them before her smiling face. At the intersection forces of tremendous power blazed into an instant's being, forces that streamed from the poles of the world and could touch only for the beat of a second if that world were not to be shaken into fragments. I felt the building reel below me. I felt the gateway open.

Henry Kuttner