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Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick Quotes

Novelist

Philip K. Dick was an American science fiction novelist known for his unique philosophical thinking and profound futuristic imagination. His works often explore the boundaries between individuals and society, reality and illusion, and have had a profound impact on science fiction literature.

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Famous Philip K. Dick Quotes

“I started reading SF when I was about twelve and I read all I could, so any author who was writing about that time, I read. But there's no doubt who got me off originally and that was A. E. van Vogt.”

Writing Reading Doubt No Doubt Twelve Vans

Book:Philip K. Dick: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations

Source: Philip K. Dick: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations

“I am a reader. I am a writer. People assume I do these things to escape. You couldn't be more right. I'm escaping a world I don't like. A world I have no control in. In this world, I am nothing. I am a color, a height, a weight, a number. But in the world of books and writing, I am amazing. I am powerful. I am different. People are better. Worlds are endless. Change is possible. Life is manageable.”

People World Writing Book Different Life Is Powerful Numbers This World Color Reader Weight Assuming Endless Height Different Peoples Escaping Manageable

Author:Philip K. Dick

“And of course, in my writing, there is the constant theme of music, love of, preoccupation with, music. Music is the single thread making my life into a coherency.”

Writing Courses Music Is Constant Theme Thread Music Love Preoccupation

Book:Vintage PKD

Source: Vintage PKD

“One thing I've found that I can do that I really enjoy is rereading my own writing, earlier stories and novels especially. It induces mental time travel, the same way certain songs you hear on the radio do ... the whole thing returns, an eerie feeling that I'm sure you've experienced.”

Way Writing I Can Whole Stories Feelings Certain Song Found Enjoy Can Do My Own Novel One Thing Return Radio Time Travel Eerie Rereading

Author:Philip K. Dick

“People have told me that everything about me, every facet of my life, psyche, experiences, dreams, and fears, are laid out explicitly in my writing, that from the corpus of my work I can be absolutely and precisely inferred. This is true.”

People Writing I Can Dream Facets Corpus

Book:Vintage PKD

Source: Vintage PKD

“Writing is a lonely way of life. You shut yourself up in your study and work and work.”

Way Writing Study Lonely Study And Work

Book:Vintage PKD

Source: Vintage PKD

“Because today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups... So I ask, in my writing, What is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind. I ought to know. I do the same thing.”

“We are served by organic ghosts, he thought, who, speaking and writing, pass through this our new environment. Watching, wise, physical ghosts from the full-life world, elements of which have become for us invading but agreeable splinters of a substance that pulsates like a former heart.”

World Writing Heart Environment Wise Elements Ghost Former Substance Full Life Invading Splinters New Environment Speaking And Writing

Book:Ubik

Source: Ubik

“Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything.”

Knows Writing Fiction Science Fiction Sorry Fiction Writing Writers And Writing Fiction Writers Writing By Writers I Am Sorry Am Sorry Creativity And Writing Writing From Famous Authors Writing Short Short Writing

Book:I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon

Source: I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon

“I want to write about people I love, and put them into a fictional world spun out of my own mind, not the world we actually have, because the world we actually have does not meet my standards.”

People World Want Writing Mind Doe My Own Standards Spun Fictional Worlds

Book:Vintage PKD

Source: Vintage PKD

“In my writing I even question the universe; I wonder out loud if it is real, and I wonder out loud if all of us are real.”

Ifs Writing Real Universe Wonder Loud

Author:Philip K. Dick

“The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.”

People Ifs Writing Use Reality Political Silence Tools Manipulation Meanings Of Words

Author:Philip K. Dick

“Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can't talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful.”

Knows Writing Fiction Science Fiction Sorry Fiction Writers I Am Sorry Am Sorry

Book:I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon

Source: I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon

“I think that, like in my writing, reality is always a soap bubble, Silly Putty thing anyway. In the universe people are in, people put their hands through the walls, and it turns out they're living in another century entirely. I often have the feeling — and it does show up in my books — that this is all just a stage.”

People Thinking Writing Doe Book Shows Feelings Hands Reality Turns Universe Century Stage Wall Silly Bubbles Soap Soap Bubbles

Author:Philip K. Dick

“I want to write about people I love, and put them into a fictional world spun out of my own mind, not the world we actually have, because the world we actually have does not meet my standards. Okay, so I should revise my standards; I'm out of step. I should yield to reality. I have never yielded to reality. That's what SF is all about. If you wish to yield to reality, go read Philip Roth; read the New York literary establishment mainstream bestselling writers”

People Ifs World Want Should Writing Mind Doe Reality Wish My Own Steps New York Standards Okay Yield Establishment Mainstream Philip Spun Fictional Worlds

Book:Vintage PKD

Source: Vintage PKD

About the Author

Born: December 16, 1928
Died: March 2, 1982
Known for: Novelist
Quotes: 370

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