Quotes from Octavia Butler

Fantasy is totally wide open all you really have to do is follow the rules you've set. But if you're writing about science, you have to first learn what you're writing about.

No one was going to stop me from writing and no one had to really guide me towards science fiction. It was natural, really, that I would take that interest.

So fantasy was fine early on, and when I discovered science fiction, I was very happy with it, because my first interest in science fiction came with an interest in astronomy.

Religion kept some of my relatives alive, because it was all they had. If they hadn't had some hope of heaven, some companionship in Jesus, they probably would have committed suicide, their lives were so hellish.

What I'm working on now - I'm back to fantasy, although considering that it's me, I'm turning it into a kind of science fantasy. It's a vampire story - but my vampires are biological vampires. They didn't become vampires because someone bit them they were born that way.

He was like me - a kindred spirit crazy enough to keep on trying.

Change is the one unavoidable, irresistible, ongoing reality of the universe. To us, that makes it the most powerful reality, and just another word for God. Earthseed: The Books of the Living Lauren Oya Olamina

She means the devil with people who say you're anything but what you are.

I can change myself, but it's an effort. And it doesn't last. It's easier to do as water does: allow myself to be contained, and take on the shape of my containers.

In order to rise From its own ashes A phoenix First Must Burn. Earthseed: The Books of the Living Lauren Oya Olamina

My brother Keith begged to go with us as usual. He'll turn thirteen in a few days - August 14 - and the thought of waiting two more years until he's 15 must seem impossible to him. I understand. Waiting is terrible. Waiting to be older is worse than other kinds of waiting because there's nothing you can do to make it happen faster.

Tolerance like any aspect of peace, is forever a work in progress, never completed and, if we're as intelligent as we like to think we are, never abandoned.

Prayers only help the person doing the praying, and then, only if they strengthen and focus that person's resolve.

Well, writing was what I wanted to do, it was always what I wanted to do. I had novels to write so I wrote them.

My relative examined you, observed a few of your normal body cells, compared them with what it had learned from other humans most like you, and said that you had not only a cancer, but a talent for cancer.

In order to rise from its own ashes, a Phoenix first must burn.

First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice.

Drowning people Sometimes die Fighting their rescuers.

Beware: At war Or at peace, More people die Of unenlightened self-interest Than of any other disease.