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Leigh Brackett Quotes

Writer

Leigh Brackett was an American writer known for her science fiction and fantasy novels. Her works are celebrated for their rich imagination and literary skill, which have had a profound impact on science fiction literature.

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Famous Leigh Brackett Quotes

“If you're not honest with yourself, life will never be honest with you.”

Life Honesty

Book:The Long Tomorrow

Source: The Long Tomorrow

“There's never been an act done since the beginning, from a kid stealing candy to a dictator committing genocide, that the person doing it didn't think he was fully justified. That's a mental trick called rationalizing, and it's done the human race more harm than anything else you can name.”

Evil Rationalization

Book:The Long Tomorrow

Source: The Long Tomorrow

“Birthing takes nine months, and dying takes you all the rest of your life.”

Life Death Living Mortality

Book:The Long Tomorrow

Source: The Long Tomorrow

“Sooner or later a man has to stop and choose his way, not out of the ways he would like there to be, or the ways there ought to be, but out of the ways there are.”

Truth Science Fiction Thought Provoking Fundamental Fact Of Life

Book:The Long Tomorrow

Source: The Long Tomorrow

“As long as there are crazed or crafty leaders to play on old fears, a mob will turn cruel.”

Conservatism Demagoguery Demagogue

Book:The Long Tomorrow

Source: The Long Tomorrow

“The cities were sucking all the life of the country into themselves and destroying it. Men were no longer individuals but units in a vast machine, all cut to one pattern, with the same tastes and ideas, the same mass-produced education that did not educate but only pasted a veneer of catchwords over ignorance. Why do you want to bring that back?”

Conformity City Uniformity Mass Production

Book:The Long Tomorrow

Source: The Long Tomorrow

“The cities were sucking all the life of the country into themselves and destroying it. Men were no longer individuals, but units in a vast machine, all cut to one pattern, with the same tastes and ideas, the same mass-produced education that did not educate but only pasted a veneer of catchwords over ignorance.”

Cities Conformity City Uniformity Mass Production

Book:The Long Tomorrow

Source: The Long Tomorrow

“Space opera, as every reader doubtless knows, is a pejorative term often applied to a story that has an element of adventure. Over the decades, brilliant and talented new writers appear, receiving great acclaim, and each and every one of them can be expected to write at least one article stating flatly that the day of space opera is over and done, thank goodness, and that henceforth these crude tales of interplanetary nonsense will be replaced by whatever type of story that writer happens to favor — closet dramas, psychological dramas, sex dramas, etc., but by God important dramas, containing nothing but Big Thinks. Ten years late, the writer in question may or may not still be around, but the space opera can be found right where it always was, sturdily driving its dark trade in heroes.”

Writing Adventure Genre Heroes Space Opera

Book:The Best of Planet Stories 1

Source: The Best of Planet Stories 1

“Love is like the measles; the older you are when it hits you, the harder it takes. Cheer up, you won't die of it.”

Dies Love Is Harder Cheer Love Is Like Cheer Up Measles

Author:Leigh Brackett

“Surrender is a perfectly acceptable alternative in extreme circumstances.”

War Circumstances Extremes Surrender Alternatives Acceptable Strike Back Empire Strikes Back

Author:Leigh Brackett

“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is.”

Should Wells Looks Matter Force Powerful Power Judging Size Strikes Allies Look At Me Luminous Judge Me Hmm Strike Back Empire Strikes Back

Author:Leigh Brackett

“David will never go to space again. I'm glad.What did it gain the McQuarries? What has it ever gained men? Have men ever brought back more happiness from the stars? Will they ever?”

Men Stars Space Gains Glad Traveler Astronaut Space Travel

Author:Leigh Brackett

“Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike against each other until finally there's an explosion-that's Plot.”

People Writing Humans Reality Desire Purpose Emotion Crosses Strikes Reality Of Life Plot Explosions Human Emotions Hotter

Author:Leigh Brackett

“Witchcraft to the ignorant, .... Simple science to the learned.”

Simple Ignorant Witchcraft

Author:Leigh Brackett

About the Author

Born: December 7, 1915
Died: March 17, 1978
Known for: Writer
Quotes: 14

Books & Sources

The Long TomorrowRelated source material

The Best of Planet Stories 1Related source material

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