Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
John Wyndham
131 quotes
“The world has so multiplied the causes of fear that no one is left entirely unafraid.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch. II - p.12 [Page numbers per the Coronet Books 1972 edition]
“There are, of course, risks. In fact, there are three distinct kinds of risk: the known ones which we can and shall prepare against; the known ones which we must trust to luck to avoid; and the entirely unknown.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Poor baby, what a world to come into.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One hears of the Industrial Revolution as though it were a mere phase, finished and done with. It is not, and it shows no sign of ever being completed.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She had an exasperating feeling that there was a principle somewhere that she had missed; a principle which once grasped would make the whole thing as clear as daylight. But if there was it continued to elude her.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have had a glorious past—but a glorious past is bitterness for a child with a hopeless future.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm afraid I'm not very good at understanding things like that." "You say that, but what you really mean is: 'I don't want to understand things like that.' " "It's true," she admitted.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fate is not above using inconsiderable details for her obscure purpose.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pt. I, Ch. I - p.8 [Page numbers per the Coronet Books 1972 paperback]
“There's nothing more egocentric than a cat.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's better to have a pistol you don't want, than to want a pistol you've not got.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Bored! My God, to think that I could ever have been bored up there.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How many men, do you suppose, realise the limitations of using words to convey our meanings? They may find that there are inconvenient misunderstandings, and blame language, but how many admit that the words are just a substitute for the thing they really lack—mental communication? Precious few. My point is that they do not realise the lack of direct mental communication, because they've never had it. They look on spoken or written language as a natural method of expression, whereas it is really a mechanical process [...]”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Safe passage along the catwalk of one's own racial code must be achieved through long experience; it is harder still to climb from it to another, and when that other is as involved as a maze and is entirely supported by incomprehensible misconceptions, a foot is bound to slip through the fabric from time to time.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Book opening line. (Ch.1, p.7) [Page numbers per the Penguin Books paperback, 1954 reprint.]
“She rummaged in a battered bag beside her, brought out a dirty spoon, and began to taste the beans as if they were one of the jams of paradise.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'There's a whole lot of people don't seem to understand that you have to talk to a man in his own language before he'll take you seriously.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'You know perfectly well that women can and do - or rather did - handle the most complicated and delicate machines when they took the trouble to understand them. What generally happens is that they're too lazy to take the trouble unless they have to.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'You can't drive a flock of sheep to market in a dead straight line, but there are ways of getting 'em there.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'We've got it all there in the books if we take the trouble to find out about it.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wondering why one's friends chose to marry the people they did is unprofitable, but recurrent.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Phase Two - p.261 [Page numbers per Michael Joseph "The John Wyndham Omnibus" hardback, 1964. 'The Kraken Wakes' features at pp.199-382.]
“Life in all its forms is strife; the better matched the opponents, the harder the struggle. The most powerful of all weapons is intelligence; any intelligent form dominates by, and therefore survives by, its intelligence.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why was I condemned to live in a democracy where every fool's vote is equal to a sensible man's?”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We ourselves have a tradition of taking beatings, and then winning wars," said Bocker.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the country you can at least grow things. You do have a chance. But a city is a sort of desert of bricks and stones. Once you've used up what is there, you're done for.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Somehow running away seldom seems to work out well unless you have a pretty good idea what you're running to.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But we had learnt, as had many before us, about the bread-alone factor, one needed more than adequate food.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There was often a great deal of grown-up fuss that seemed disproportionate to causes. The ways of the world were very puzzling. . . .”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch 1 - p.391, 392 [Page numbers per the Michael Joseph "The John Wyndham Omnibus" hardback 1964. 'The Chrysalids' features at pp.383-532.]
“WATCH THOU FOR THE MUTANT !”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Unfortunately there were certain persons with elastic principles.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My impression was of an uncomfortably industrious place where there always seemed to be more jobs than people, unless one was careful, so on this particular evening I contrived to lie low until routine sounds told me that it was near enough to the mealtime for me to show myself safely.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This isn't a nice cosy world for anyone—especially not for anyone that's different," he said.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There's a type of woman who isn't content until she's made herself some man's slave and doormat—put herself completely in his power.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Nobody,' she said, 'nobody but a child, or a child-minded person, expects life to be fair.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch 9 - p.70 [Angela] [Page numbers per the Penguin Books paperback, 1982 reprint.]
“'The dove is not a coward to fear the hawk; it is simply wise.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'The law punishes the criminal after he has been successful: it is no use to us.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'In point of fact our ascendancy has been so complete that we are rarely called upon to kill wolves nowadays - in fact, most of us have quite forgotten what it means to have to fight in a personal way against another species. But, when the need arises we have no compunction in fully supporting those who slay the threat whether it is from wolves, insects, bacteria, or filterable viruses; we give no quarter, and certainly expect no pardon.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Cruelty is as old as life itself.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'And, after all, what is a planet but an island in space?'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'The wise lamb does not enrage the lion,' he said. 'It placates him, plays for time, and hopes for the best.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'If you want to keep alive in the jungle, you must live as the jungle does. . . .'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pretty girls are lovely as the flowers in May, but there are so many flowers in May.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pt. 1, Ch. 1 - p.10 [Page numbers per the Michael Joseph 1960 hardback]
“Life isn't very long. You see that plainly when you begin to look at it from the other end. Not time to do very much.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She doesn't think about anything—she's sort of programmed, like a computer. There's a conditioned response system. She hears, and then acceptance, rejection, and reaction drums go click-click-click, and the answer comes out sort of codified, just exactly right for people who use the same code." "Isn't that a little intolerant?" Francis had suggested. "After all, aren't we all rather like that if we consider ourselves honestly?" "To some degree," Zephanie admitted. "Only some people seem to be rigged always to play the house—like fruit machines.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The vitriol throwers and smilers with knives”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If life weren't so short it would be worth people's while to do more to put the world to rights.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We shan't get homo superior without any birth-pangs.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Darling, you're talking as if all normal-length lives were planned. They aren't, you know. People have to learn how to live them—and by the time they find out, they're nearly gone. No time to remedy mistakes.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You owe it to your self-respect to spend a lot of money on yourself.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One got tired, and not infrequently a little stupid, by the end of a shift.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) first seen 1962 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch 1 - p.22 [Page numbers per the 1962 Penguin Books paperback, 1980 reprint.]
“Most births are painful, and none are pretty.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source