My father said whoever tells the longest story is always the liar. The truth isn’t that complicated.
—Bill Joy (b.1954) American Computer Engineer, Investor
Fear and lies fester in darkness. The truth may wound, but it cuts clean.
—Jacqueline Carey (b.1964) American Novelist, Author
Any person who claims to have deep feeling for other human beings should think a long, long time before he votes to have other men kept behind bars – caged. I am not Saying there shouldn’t be prisons, but there shouldn’t be bars. Behind bars, a man never reforms. He will never forget. He never will get completely over the memory of the bars.
—Malcolm X (1925–65) American Civil Rights Leader
We are but dreams, and dreams possess no life by their own right.
—Gene Wolfe (1931–2019) American Science Fiction Writer
In any war there are always more of the enemy than you think, and there are always allies you never knew you had.
—John M. Ford (1957–2006) American Novelist, Writer, Poet
You know you’ve achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.
—Philip K. Dick (1928–82) American Novelist, Essayist, Short Story Writer
Rule of thumb: Be skeptical of things you learned before you could read. E.g., religion.
—Ben Casnocha (b.1988) American Entrepreneur
He didn’t reject the idea so much as not react to it and watch as it floated away.
—David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) American Novelist, Essayist
Lying to yourself about specific actions is easier than re-defining the bounds of your imagined identity… When I see once-ethical men devolve into moral grey, they still identify as upstanding.
—Ben Casnocha (b.1988) American Entrepreneur
If you do not wish a thing heard, do not say it.
—John M. Ford (1957–2006) American Novelist, Writer, Poet
Determined efforts are better than a miracle.
—Tonbo