Gene Wolfe Quotes

Time turns our lies into truths.

Hope is a psychological mechanism unaffected by external realities.

There is no magic. There is only knowledge, more or less hidden.

You believe me wise because I taught you once, but I have not been north, as you have. You have seen (what) I have never seen...You flatter me by asking my opinion.

The would-be sorcerer alone has faith in the efficacy of pure knowledge; rational people know that things act of themselves or not at all.

...the progress of science depends much less upon either theoretical considerations or systematic investigation than is commonly believed, but rather on the transmittal of reliable information, gained by chance or insight, from one set of men to their successors.

It was earliest morning, when even small trees cast long shadows and scarlet foxes trot denward through the dew like flecks of fire.

Weak people believe what is forced on them. Strong people what they wish to believe, forcing that to be real.

We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges.

Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle science fiction.

People don't want other people to be people.

It seems to me that you can almost define civilization by saying it's people who are not willing to hurt other people because the other people are different.

My definition of good literature is that which can be read by an educated reader, and reread with increased pleasure.

The castle? The monster? The man of learning? I only just thought of it. Surely you know that just as the momentous events of the past cast their shadows down the ages, so now, when the sun is drawing toward the dark,our own shadows race into the past to trouble mankind's dreams.