John Thomas Sladek quotes

I have a kind of standard explanation why, which goes like this: Science fiction is one way of making sense out of a senseless world. (John Thomas Sladek)
Most publishers seem very reluctant to publish short story collections at all; they bring them out in paperback, often disguised as novels. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
People have laughed at all great inventors and discoverers. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
Whatever I'm reading at the moment seems to influence whatever I'm writing. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
The future, according to some scientists, will be exactly like the past, only far more expensive. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
SF has at least the advantage of not depending on preconceptions. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
We didn't have a phone when I was a kid, and I was too shy to smash any public phones, and our town didn't have a pool hall either, so I had to hang out at the public library - and anyway, I told myself stories. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
See, I have no journalism in my background, so I wasn't practised at research or writing non-fiction, nor at handling the truth in a journalistic way. Journalists know when to call a halt and write something, but I kept on looking for answers. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
An artist's life is supposed to lead toward his masterpiece, not away from it. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
Anything can happen in SF. And the fact that nothing ever does happen in SF is only due to the poverty of our imaginations, we who write it or edit it or read it. But SF can in principle deal with anything. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
This is mainly because I spend a lot of time writing and so don't have much time to read; I hate to waste that time reading what may turn out to be junk food for the mind, when there's so much real writing to be read. (John Thomas Sladek)
Today's robots are very primitive, capable of understanding only a few simple instructions such as 'go left', 'go right', and 'build car'. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
I think these days an SF connection would be a boost to other books; I'm sure more people have read my two little detective puzzles because of the SF connection. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
In most conventional novels, God is not allowed to be nuts. Nor are nuts allowed to be God. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
I usually like whatever I've recently finished best. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
I found some time ago that I have to be careful, while working on a novel, what I read. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
I started writing, or rather, thinking, stories as a child, and at that time the reason was very clear. View quote
John Thomas Sladek
The problem and privilege we all have is being alive in this century and able to read this language. It makes any list meaningless except the list of an illiterate. View quote
John Thomas Sladek