Quotes from Joan D. Vinge

For every path you choose, there is another you must abandon, usually forever.

As for the historical inspirations I drew on in writing The Snow Queen, I suppose I would call them more cross-cultural inspirations, though they frequently involve past societies as well as present day ones.

Real power is control. Knowing that you can do anything...and not doing it only because you can.

The ecosystem of our world is a closed system: it would run out of gas, collapse of its own weight.

We are all born with a unique genetic blueprint, which lays out the basic characteristics of our personality as well as our physical health and appearance... And yet, we all know that life experiences do change us.

What I do not want to write is didactic political tracts.

Archaeology is the anthropology of the past, and science fiction is the anthropology of the future.

But our society does not grant nontraditional forms of intelligence equal recognition, no matter how much it would help us get along or truly enrich our lives.

Studying anthropology, I developed a kind of holistic view of human existence, in which the dichotomies you listed are all necessary and vital aspects of life.

We are all born with a unique genetic blueprint, which lays out the basic characteristics of our personality as well as our physical health and appearance... And yet, we all know that life experiences do change us.

But our society does not grant nontraditional forms of intelligence equal recognition, no matter how much it would help us get along or truly enrich our lives.

These days too many of us seem inclined to cover our ears, close our eyes, and blindly follow the most narrow, conservative tenets of religion or else seek comfort in the ancient traditions of New Age ritual.

Beyond that, I seem to be compelled to write science fiction, rather than fantasy or mysteries or some other genre more likely to climb onto bestseller lists even though I enjoy reading a wide variety of literature, both fiction and nonfiction.

Nos, én azt vallom, hogy akár táncolunk, akár nem, bohócok vagyunk, úgyhogy ezzel az erÅ'vel akár táncolhatunk is.

Ezer világon és tízezer életen át is kereslek majd, amíg meg nem talállak. - Én pedig várok majd rá, minden világban és minden életben...

even the gods suffered when injustice unbalanced the flow of all existence. It was the gods' will that the balance must be restored...Let the gods bear witness then, he would become the instrument of their will. No matter what laws of men he had to defy

Sometimes she talked like a poet; she made a little joke of it, so that you wouldn't mind.

Aki megszületik, annak meg is kell halnia. Akik találkoznak, azoknak el is kell válniuk... De amin megosztozunk ebben az életben, azt már soha nem lehet elvenni tÅ'lünk.

Van egy hely túl életen és halálon, Ahol az égen nincs felhÅ', és a folyók vize tiszta. Emlékezz rám, és ott rád találok.

Aztán valahol a végtele kékségben két lélek útjai keresztezik egymást... Å' pedig úgy veszi majd észre egy idegen szemében a saját szíve tükörképét, mint búvár a tenger árnyai közt a gyöngyöt... és akkor tudni fogja, hogy végre az Å' lelke is hazatalált.

They said it was death to kill a sibyl, death to love a sibyl, death to be a sibyl … and they meant a living death.

But it's a strange thing, the effect that everyone singing together has- the bond that grows between you, the feeling of unity. It gives you the strength to carry on, when things are hard. And it's hard to hate anyone when you're singing with them; hard to be angry...

But what force in the galaxy is stronger than she is?" "Indifference." Jerusha surprised herself with the answer. "Indifference, Gundhalinu, is the strongest force in the universe. It makes everything it touches meaningless. Love and hate don't stand a chance against it. It lets neglect and decay and monstrous injustice go unchecked. It doesn't act, it allows. And that's what gives it so much power.

Real power is control. Knowing that you can do anything...and not doing it only because you can.