William Sleator > Quotes

“I learn more from books than from people”
― William Sleator, The Beasties

“But really, that is kind of silly,' Abigail tried to explain. 'I mean, a book is much less personal than a programmed screen that can respond to you according to your needs, and concentrate on what's hard for you, and go fast on what's easy. A book stays the same no matter *who's* reading it. And anyway, I don't see how anyone could read a whole long book, it must be so boring!'

'But...but it wasn't,' Peter said faintly. 'I...almost forgot I was reading it. The...the whole story was going on in my head.'

'I still don't understand,' said Oliver. 'I mean, watching a real-life hologram right before your eyes is better than anything you could *imagine.*”
― William Sleator, House of Stairs

“He reached out and took her hand. Neither cared that someone might see. They had been taught all their lives that the only deep feelings between men and women were sexual, but now they knew that it was a lie. They were friends and they loved one another, and their hand-holding was perfectly innocent. It was one more thing to rejoice in, one more way in which they had risen above the system, above the machine.”
― William Sleator, House of Stairs

“Hello, Martin.”
― William Sleator

“Without hesitation they began to dance.”
― William Sleator, House of Stairs

“The discomforting claim made by biologists that people live among dense swarms of invisible microorganisms--no matter how "hygienic" people imagine themselves to be--turned out to be true.”
― William Sleator, Interstellar Pig

“can seem very attractive to someone who has no idea at all what it really means; and”
― William Sleator, Blackbriar