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Quote by John C. Wright

“All medieval and classic cultures of the ancient world, including those on which Tolkien modeled his elves, routinely exposed their young and marriageable women to the fortunes of war, because bearing and raising the next generation of warriors is not needed for equality-loving elves. Equality-loving elves. Who are monarchists. With a class system. Of ranks. Battles are more fun when attractive young women are dismembered and desecrated by goblins! I believe that this is one point where C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and all Christian fantasy writers from before World War Two were completely agreed upon, and it is a point necessary in order correctly to capture the mood and tone and nuance of the medieval romances or Norse sagas such writers were straining their every artistic nerve and sinew to create. So, wait, we have an ancient and ageless society of elves where the virgin maidens go off to war, but these same virgin maidens must abide by the decision of their father or liege lord for permission to marry? -- The Desolation of Tolkien”

Quote by John C. Wright

Work

Transhuman and Subhuman: Essays on Science Fiction and Awful Truth

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Author

John C. Wright
John C. Wright

John C. Wright is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, born on October 22, 1961. His works are known for their profound philosophical insights and unique worldviews, covering a range of topics from space opera to post-apocalyptic worlds. more

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“Ik zeg aan Iedereen, als je de Koran ergens kunt vinden, Koop hem en lees hem, dan weet u wat uw lot zal zijn, als kafir, als ongelovige, als zij het ooit voor het zeggen krijgen! Besef dat in negentien vier, vijf zesendertig toen het nationaal socialisme nog niet aan de macht was men ook, al perfect kon weten wat Hitler en zijn NSDAP zou doen, je moest alleen maar Mein Kampf lezen, het stond er allemaal in... Wel het staat ook in de Koran, dus je moet de Koran niet verbieden, je moet de Koran niet verscheuren, je moet de Koran niet verbranden, je moet hem vooral lezen!”

“I want to pause here and talk about this notion of consensus, and the rise of what has been called consensus science. I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had. Let's be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus. There is no such thing as consensus science. If it's consensus, it isn't science. If it's science, it isn't consensus. Period.”

“We gunnen onszelf zo graag het beeld van de geschiedenis als een onontkoombare stroom, als een onvermijdelijke gang van A naar D via B en C. Vergeet het maar. Ook in deze geschiedenis – die tevens de onze is – wemelt het van de wissels die op het allerlaatst nog werden omgegooid, van de momenten waarop alles heel anders had kunnen verlopen, van de situaties die smeken om een ‘what if’, een ‘wat als’-analyse.”