Speculative Quotes

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? - Who watches the watchmen?”
― Alan Moore, Watchmen

“Two questions form the foundation of all novels: "What if?" and "What next?" (A third question, "What now?", is one the author asks himself every 10 minutes or so; but it's more a cry than a question.) Every novel begins with the speculative question, What if "X" happened? That's how you start.”
― Tom Clancy

“Some 5,000 of Wallace’s 8,050 bird specimens he collected during eight years in the Malay Archipelago were actually collected by Ali. None are named after the young man.”
― Paul Spencer Sochaczewski, "Look Here, Sir, What a Curious Bird": Searching for Ali, Alfred Russel Wallace's Faithful Companion

“I wonder what Ali thought about Wallace? How did he view this tall, gawky, bearded eccentric man? Did Ali defend Wallace when villagers thought he was an evil demon? Did he secretly giggle when he heard Wallace speak Malay with a strong British accent? Did he gossip about his boss with other locals? Why was Wallace enthralled to discover a new beetle or ant? Did Ali see his time with Wallace as a chance to better himself, a grand adventure? Or was his work with Wallace simply a job?”
― Paul Spencer Sochaczewski, "Look Here, Sir, What a Curious Bird": Searching for Ali, Alfred Russel Wallace's Faithful Companion

“We know quite a bit about Alfred Russel Wallace, one of the great figures of modern science. But we know relatively little about Ali, Wallace’s faithful companion who supported him during much of his eight-year sojourn in the Malay Archipelago in the mid-19th century.”
― Paul Spencer Sochaczewski, "Look Here, Sir, What a Curious Bird": Searching for Ali, Alfred Russel Wallace's Faithful Companion

“Just as Wallace learned and evolved, Ali was on his own journey of discovery. Starting out as a 15-year-old cook, Ali learned to collect and mount specimens. He took on responsibility for organizing travel. He nursed Wallace during many bouts of fever and injury.”
― Paul Spencer Sochaczewski, "Look Here, Sir, What a Curious Bird": Searching for Ali, Alfred Russel Wallace's Faithful Companion

“I feel buried.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

“I mean, that was the code, wasn’t it? Single girls and taken guys weren’t allowed to be friends. The leash always got in the way.”
― Carrie Butler, Strength

“Unearth marvels as you walk the path,
Stand in awe,
Therein is the joy of life.”
― Barbara Neville, Cowgirls Just Wanna Have Fun

“When religion ceases to be speculative and becomes factual and "true", it will become science. Science can be used to prove or disprove opinions, beliefs and accusations. Until any religion crosses that line, who is anyone to use their religion to judge others?”
― Christina Engela, Demonspawn

“We live in a world of unfulfilled fairytales.”
― Holly Walrath, Glimmerglass Girl

“One second she’s all timid, and then reeoowr! Hellcat.”
― Carrie Butler, Strength

“All because I fell in love with a madman.”
― Carrie Butler, Strength

“We are all of the same substance, the same life. Though there are many differences between us, those are merely the shadows that delineate our boundaries. Our light is the same.”
― Sally Wiener Grotta, The Winter Boy

“My hopes for pie died on the sidewalk. There went my grin.”
― Carrie Butler, Strength

“But he couldn’t risk taking the helmet off. It was the only thing saving him from the firing squad. He was no longer able to keep his thoughts silent. No longer able to squash his misgivings about what he had done.”
― T.C. Avey

“They look, I said. They look in all our rooms.
What for? he said.
I think I lost control then, a little. Razor blades, I said, Books, writing, black market stuff. All things we aren't supposed to have.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

“They construct billboards out in the sea, painted allegories adorn their facades, hawking sex and sentiment to the opulent, the fortunate
of the people of fortune, who bury their dead in the sand where the light of heaven is closest at dawn, and farther and farther away at twilight.”
― Holly Walrath, Mithila Review Issue 8

“GoogleEarthlike soars his mind, through clouds where snowstorms brew; New York State has dropped away, and Massachusetts flew, and Newfoundland is ice-entombed and Rockall gull-beshatten, where no eye sees the lightning flash its momentary pattern …”
― David Mitchell, The Bone Clocks

“fluttering amidst the stars / stands the thin black/ stalk / of a glimmerglass girl /”
― Holly Walrath, Glimmerglass Girl

“I tell my sisters: / cultivate loneliness / like you might care for / an orchid, turning it / gently towards the light, / serving it water like wine / aerated, purified, filtered.”
― Holly Walrath, Glimmerglass Girl

“So che se riuscirai a capirmi, saprai anche che ti amo. Lo sentirai nei colori, lo assaggerai nell'aria, lo palperai nella musica.

Non so se funzionerà, ma ti lascio questo messaggio. Le parole che stai leggendo, non le stai leggendo davvero, e io non le ho mai scritte. Le sentirai emergere nella tua testa, crescere come germogli, assumere significati che io stesso non saprei esprimere.”
― Andrea Viscusi, Spore

“If I had known how difficult it was to edit my book, I would have done that first then written the story.”
― Edwin D. Ferretti III, The Darkside of the Medallion

“And yet—this fascination with the future has generated its own antithesis, particularly in the so-called affluent or developed societies. There is a growing disenchantment with "progress" (however this may be defined) and even a feeling that, in many directions, we have already gone too far.”
― Arthur C. Clarke, Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible

“True. And there are an infinite number of universes, of course, in which we don't exist at all - that is, no creatures similar to us exist at all. In which the human race doesn't exist at all. There are an infinite number of universes, for instance, in which flowers are the predominant form of life -or in which no form of life has ever developed or will develop.”
― Fredric Brown, "FREDRIC BROWN" BOOKS: What Mad Universe / Space on My Hands / Honeymoon in Hell

“Author M A Noordermeer has written a book like none I've ever read before, and this cerebral, high-concept sci-fi tale is told with a human heart and philosophical edge, almost like a morality tale for the modern age. A highly recommended and impressive sci-fi work for fans of smart, urgent, and imaginative writing.”
― K.C. Finn, Readers’ Favorite

“You ever get that feeling that something's off—but no one else sees it? Yeah. That.”
― Vidwesh Mushkam

“Hello, Timron,” Carlos said. “You look… unwell.”
“You look dead,” Timron answered.”
― H Lawrence Dearborn, Precept: Frequency