162 Quotes by Octavia Butler

The thing about science fiction is that it’s totally wide open. But it’s wide open in a conditional way.

Every story I create, creates me. I write to create myself. Every story I write adds to me a little, changes me a little, forces me to reexamine an attitude or belief, causes me to research and learn, helps me to understand people and grow.

Rejections are painful, but inevitable. They’re every writer’s rite of passage.

Positive obsession is about not being able to stop just because you’re afraid and full of doubts. Positive obsession is dangerous. It’s about not being able to stop at all.

The differences you perceive between Humans-between groups of Humans-are the result of isolation and inbreeding, mutation, and adaptation to different Earth environments.

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.

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

Dad decided not to vote for Donner after all. He didn’t vote for anyone. He said politicians turned his stomach.

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.