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John Wyndham
131 quotes
“There is many a flower which would not be growing if the dung had not happened to fall where it did.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Americans had got into the habit of regarding the moon as a piece of U.S.-bespoken real estate that they would get around to developing when they were ready.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The frustrations are still buzzing about, and soon they are going to find a new place to swarm.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He listened closely, and nodded several times, though not always where a nod seemed appropriate.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Five hundred and eighty-four days is a long time to be stuck on a mudbank.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I found it difficult to believe that they are real people living real lives. For the first day I was constantly accompanied by the feeling that an unseen director would suddenly call 'Cut', and it would all come to a stop.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't understand women. Nobody does. Least of all themselves.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch 1 - p.15 [Page numbers per the Penguin Books paperback, 1972 reprint.]
“An open mind is a difficult thing to keep.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Everybody ought to be able to swim.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have been astonished before, and doubtless shall be again, how the kindliest and most sympathetic of women can pettify and downgrade the searing anguishes of childhood.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I felt a poignant memory of those desolate patches of disillusion which are the shocks of growing up. The discovery that one lived in a world which could pay honour where honour was not due, was just such a one. The values were rocked, the dependable was suddenly flimsy, the solid became hollow, gold turned to brass, there was no integrity anywhere . . .”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Intelligent life is the only thing that gives meaning to the universe. It is a holy thing, to be fostered and treasured. Without it nothing begins, nothing ends, there can be nothing through all eternity but the mindless babblings of chaos . . . Therefore, the nurture of all intelligent forms is a sacred duty. Even the merest spark of reason must be fanned in the hope of a flame. Frustrated intelligence must have its bonds broken. Narrow-channelled intelligence must be given the power to widen out. High intelligence must be learned from.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'The time has now come for us to cease to behave like a lot of irresponsible children letting off fireworks in a crowded hall.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch 1 - p.22 [Page numbers per the Michael Joseph hardback 1979]
“'A species continues to exist by outbreeding the checks that its natural enemies impose on it. That is what gives the illusion of "the balance of nature" belief. Once the natural enemies cease to be a threat its fecundity becomes terrifying. Look what has happened in a generation or two to our own population, largely because a few diseases have been overcome. Find a way of conquering the natural enemies, and the only limiting factor is the food supply.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Co-operation makes many things possible. Co-operation introduces a factor which is greater than the sum of its parts. [...] Such a tremendous thing - the ability to co-operate... It makes you wonder what we could do if we were really to co-operate.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's all pretty simple if you don't give a damn who gets hurt in the rush.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch 2 - p.11 [Book written in the early 1950s; published posthumously in 2009. Page numbers here are per the Penguin Books 2010 Edition]
“You can half-expect things. Try to face them in advance, case-harden your mind, you think - but when they come, it's always different.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Primitive man would see every one of us as a magician.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One man's trash is another's souvenir.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The thing is to play your own game - not let the other feller force you to what he wants.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Practically everyone there had had an air of brooding privately with differing intensity. I knew now what it had reminded me of - the outpatients department of a hospital.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is a degree of odds against which a gambler becomes just another mug.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To sleep in peace, and resume a nightmare when one wakes, is a highly undesirable reversal of the natural order.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On the principle that if you walk briskly with an air of purpose ninety-nine per cent of the people you meet will assume it is a proper purpose, I did just that.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I see death as the worm's opportunity. It is defeat. You can dress it as you like, with drama, or glory, or pomposity, and perhaps deceive yourself for the critical moment - but, nevertheless, the same worm comes - it is defeat...”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I suppose we all have a number of carefully furnished, non-communicating rooms in our minds.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'd begun to grasp the principle that the less anybody knows, the less any squealer can give away. And it was easy to see that in a place where questioning was liable to assume the aspect of a blood-sport, the less one did know about other people's business, the better.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is a sense of reason's fingernails scrabbling to keep their hold, as one slides towards something which is not accountable; not, by ordinary standards, quite sane...”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dying," observed the doctor, "is such a very ordinary thing to do.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Was she a bit mad?" "Mad? Oh, no - unless you would call a failure to grow up a kind of madness - in which case there would be very few sane people.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sooner or later the amateur always overreaches himself.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Short story, 'Jizzle' - p.8 [Page numbers per the New English Library 1979 Edition, 1982 reprint.]
“It was so absurd to die at sixty, anyway, and, as he saw it, it would be even more wasteful to die at eighty. A scheme of things in which the wisdom acquired in living was simply scrapped in this way was, to say the least, grossly inefficient. What did it mean? That somebody else would have to go through the process of learning all that life had already taken sixty years to teach him; and then be similarly scrapped in the end. No wonder the race was slow in getting anywhere—if, indeed, it were getting anywhere—with this cat-and-mouse, ten-forward-and-nine-back system.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Lady,” he said, “some place there’s several freight cars of trouble marked 'Rush', and they’re all headed your way.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I guess——" she said, wistfully—"I guess the only thing that's wrong with children is that they grow up to be people like you.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Other things than to fight, there is, even for dragons.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And there was another thing, too. No matter what your business is, some gals ain't got no standard of affection except how much you neglect it for 'em. Seems they just got to back themselves against it—and they got it all nicely fixed so they win both ways. If you don't neglect it, you ain't lovin' them enough; if you do, they reckoned you were that kind of sap, anyway.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I suppose one could scarcely have had innocence and experience. Being young is very exhausting and unsatisfactory, really—although it looks so nice.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No discovery is good or evil until men make it that way.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the profession of wifehood the exams begin at the church door—and there is never a final degree.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hobbies are convenient in the child, but irritant in the adult; which is why women are careful never to have them, but simply to be interested in this and that.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'In spite of what they say, two can't live as cheap as one. And wives hanker after certain standards, and ought to have them - within reason, of course.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Short story, Chronoclasm - p.25 [Page numbers per the Penguin Books 1979 reprint]
“'Do you never work? Does nobody work?' I asked Clytassamine. 'Oh yes - if he wants to,' she said. 'But what about the unpleasant things - the things that must be done?' 'What things?' she asked, puzzled. 'Well, growing food, providing power, disposing of waste, all that kind of thing.' She looked surprised. 'Why, naturally, the machines do all that. You wouldn't expect men to do those things. Good heavens, what have we got brains for?" 'But who looks after the machines - keeps them in order?' 'Themselves, of course.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Ingenious you certainly were - like monkeys. But you neglected your philosophers - to your own ruin. Each new discovery was a toy. You never considered its true worth. You just pushed it into your system - a system already suffering from hardening of the arteries. And you were a greedy people. You took each discovery as if it were a bright new garment, but when you put it on you wore it over your old, verminous rags. You had grave need of disinfectants.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'In the end, defeat, and the cold, must come. First to the system, then the galaxy, then the universe, and the rest will be silence. Not to admit that is a foolish vanity.' She paused. 'Yet one grows flowers because they are lovely - not because one wishes them to live for ever.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ever seen an old man just sitting in the sun, taking it easy? It doesn't have to mean he's senile. It may do, but very likely he can snap out of it and put his mind to work again if it gets really necessary. But mostly he finds it not worth the bother. Less trouble just to let things happen.'”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Keeping to an unnecessary programme requires resolution.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Thank you, Hester,' Janet said, as she leaned back against the cushion placed behind her. Not that it was necessary to thank a robot, but she had a theory that if you did not practise politeness with robots you soon forgot it with other people.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had only my thoughts to occupy me, and they were not good company.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Short story, 'Consider her ways' - p.66 [Page numbers per the 1965 Penguin Books paperback, 1976 reprint.]
“It is what has happened, and is happening now, that determines the future. Therefore, there must be a great number of possible futures, each a possible consequence of what is being done now.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But if they change me shape, and change me voice, and change me hair and change me face, as they say, what is it that is me, at all?" asked Peggy.”
John Wyndham (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source