Quotessence
Home / Authors / Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury Quotes

Writer

Filter quotes by topic

AllWritingIfsPeopleBookThinkingKnowsWayWorldYearsScience FictionWantBooksMenStoriesFictionRay BradburyReadingRunningLifeLibrary

Famous Ray Bradbury Quotes

“We're all fools," said Clemens, "all the time. It's just we're a different kind each day. We think, I'm not a fool today. I've learned my lesson. I was a fool yesterday but not this morning. Then tomorrow we find out that, yes, we were a fool today too. I think the only way we can grow and get on in this world is to accept the fact we're not perfect and live accordingly.”

ThinkingWorldWayKindSaidDifferentFactsTodayGrowsPerfectAcceptingMorningThis WorldFoolTomorrowLessonsYesterdayI've LearnedEach DayDifferent KindsNot Perfect
Author:Ray Bradbury
Create image

“Cram them full of non-combustible data, chock them so damned full of 'facts' they feel stuffed, but absolutely 'brilliant' with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving. And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change. Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy.”

ThinkingWayGivingFeelsPhilosophyFactsMovingLyingStuffInformationBrilliantDataTiesMelancholySociologyDon't ChangeSlippery
Book:Fahrenheit 451
Create image

“If you had your way you’d pass a law to abolish all the little jobs, the little things. But then you’d leave yourselves nothing to do between the big jobs and you’d have a devil of a time thinking up things to do so you wouldn’t go crazy. Instead of that, why not let nature show you a few things? Cutting grass and pulling weeds can be a way of life, son.”

IfsThinkingWayLittlesShowsBigsJobsLawCuttingCrazySonDevilGrassThings To DoWhy NotLittle ThingsWeedPullingAbolishPulling Weeds
Author:Ray Bradbury
Create image

“Hello!" He said hello and then said, "What are you up to now?" "I'm still crazy. The rain feels good. I love to walk in it. "I don't think I'd like that," he said. "You might if you tried." "I never have." She licked her lips. "Rain even tastes good." "What do you do, go around trying everything once?" he asked. "Sometimes twice.”

IfsThinkingFeelsTryingSaidStillsSometimesMightWalksCrazyTasteRainLipsFeel GoodHelloTrying Everything
Book:Ray Bradbury 3-Book Collection: Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man
Create image

“Forgive, I hope you won't be upset, but when I was a boy I used to look up and see you behind your desk, so near but far away, and, how can I say this, I used to think that you were Mrs. God, and that the library was a whole world, and that no matter what part of the world or what people or thing I wanted to see and read, you'd find and give it to me.”

PeopleThinkingWorldGivingLooksMatterWholeWantedUsedBehindsBoysNo Matter WhatForgivingLibraryWhole WorldUpsetLook UpFar AwayDesks
Author:Ray Bradbury
Create image

“You can’t learn to write in college. It’s a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you do—and they don’t. They have prejudices. They may like Henry James, but what if you don’t want to write like Henry James? They may like John Irving, for instance, who’s the bore of all time. A lot of the people whose work they’ve taught in the schools for the last thirty years, I can’t understand why people read them and why they are taught.”

PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWantWritingYearsMayI CanSchoolLastsTeacherTaughtCollegePrejudiceInstanceAll TimeThirtyWhat IfBoresThirty Years
Author:Ray Bradbury
Create image

“This afternoon, burn down the house. Tomorrow, pour critical water upon the simmering coals. Time enough to think and cut and rewrite tomorrow. But today-explode-f ly-apart-disint egrate! The other six or seven drafts are going to be pure torture. So why not enjoy the first draft, in the hope that your joy will seek and find others in the world who, by reading your story, will catch fire, too?”

ThinkingWorldWritingFirstsEnoughStoriesTodayJoyReadingHouseEnjoyWaterFireCuttingTomorrowPureSixSevenCriticalTortureWhy NotAfternoonCoal
Author:Ray Bradbury
Create image

“The psychiatrist wants to know why I go out and hike around in the forests and watch the birds and collect butterflies. I'll show you my collection some day.Good.They want to know what I do with my time. I tell them that sometimes I just sit and think. But I won't tell them what. I've got them running. And sometimes, I tell them, I like to put my head back, like this, and let the rain fall in my mouth. It tastes just like wine. Have you ever tried it?”

ThinkingKnowsWantSometimesShowsRunningFallWatchesTasteBirdMouthsRainWineForestsMy TimeCollectionsButterflyPsychiatrist
Book:Fahrenheit 451: A Novel
Create image

“When I was a young man, I didn't think about having a family. My wife and I were too poor to have babies. Then all of a sudden, one came along and scared the hell out of us because we had no money. Once the baby arrives, you make do somehow. You fall in love with the baby and life adjusts itself. You find you don't need as much money as you thought. When that happens, you can ask the questions that should have come before the baby.”

ThinkingMenNeedsShouldHappensYoungFallAsksPoorHellWifeBabyShould HaveParentingFalling In LoveScaredMy WifeYoung ManNo Money
Author:Ray Bradbury
Create image