A predilection for genre fiction is symptomatic of a kind of arrested development. Thomas M. Disch More Quotes by Thomas M. Disch More Quotes From Thomas M. Disch Creativity is the ability to see relationships where none exist. Thomas M. Disch ability-to-seeabilitycreativity The distances between the stars seem brief by contrast to the distances between each of us and his fellows. Thomas M. Disch distancestarsloneliness Gene Wolfe has produced a work of art that can satisfy adult appetites and in which even the most fantastical elements register as poetry rather than as penny-whistle whimsy. Thomas M. Disch elementsadultsart Creativeness is finding patterns where none exist. Thomas M. Disch creativenessfindingspatterns Let me tell you about the end of the world. It happened fifty years ago. Maybe a hundred. And since then it's been lovely. I mean it. Nobody tries to bother you. You can relax. You know what? I like the end of the world. Thomas M. Disch lovelymeanyears Poets are regarded as handicapped writers whose work must be treated with a tender condescension, such as one accords the athletic achievements of basketball players confined to wheelchairs. Thomas M. Disch achievementbasketballplayer America is a nation of liars, and for that reason science fiction has a special claim to be our national literature, as the art form best adapted to telling the lies we like to hear and to pretend we believe. Thomas M. Disch liarslyingart Science Fiction is a branch of children's literature. Thomas M. Disch literaturechildrenfiction Thought is a disease of the brain. The mind defends itself against the degenerative process of creativity; it begins to jell; notions solidify into inalterable systems. Thomas M. Disch creativitymindbrain So, without saying anything to the others, it made its way to the farthest corner of the meadow and began to toast an imaginary muffin. That was always the best way to unwind when things got to be too much for it. Thomas M. Disch too-muchcuteway Sameness is what marketers want us to want. Thomas M. Disch marketerscommercewant Writers tend to consider distinction and originality as virtues, but they are anathema to publishers. Thomas M. Disch originalityvirtuewriting The gods, after all, are only human, and once their rage has been placated they are perfectly capable of acts of mercy and grace. Thomas M. Disch ragemercygrace All children... feel a demonic sympathy with those things that cause disorder in the grown-up world. Thomas M. Disch causeschildrenworld For a lot of people, poetry tends to be dull. It's not read much. It takes a special kind of training and a lot of practice to read poetry with pleasure. It's like learning to like asparagus. Thomas M. Disch trainingpracticepeople Knowledge is devalued when it becomes too generally known Thomas M. Disch known Here was a flower (the daisy reflected) strangely like itself and yet utterly unlike itself too. Such a paradox has often been the basis for the most impassioned love. Thomas M. Disch daisiesparadoxflower Though opposition is a hopeless task, acquiescence would be worse. Thomas M. Disch acquiescencetaskswould-be Genius is an infinite capacity for pain. Thomas M. Disch infinitepaingenius The forest stretched on seemingly forever with the most monotonous predictability, each tree just like the next - trunk, branches, leaves; trunk, branches, leaves. Of course a tree would have taken a different view of the matter. We all tend to see the way others are alike and how we differ, and it's probably just as well we do, since that prevents a great deal of confusion. But perhaps we should remind ourselves from time to time that ours is a very partial view, and that the world is full of a great deal more variety than we ever manage to take in. Thomas M. Disch confusiontakenviews
