# Needed: Science Fiction and Fantasy Quotes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 23, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616 "2012-09-23T19:07:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/121 "2012-09-27T15:48:07Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > “He was a hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead.” Why, oh why, hasn’t _ **The Stars My Destination** _ been made into a movie yet? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/122 "2012-09-27T15:52:08Z")
“How about a nice game of chess?” ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/123 "2012-09-27T18:15:29Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > Why, oh why, hasn’t _ **The Stars My Destination** _ been made into a movie yet? ☹ ``` 'Tenser,' said the Tensor. 'Tenser,' said the Tensor. 'Tension, apprehension, And dissension have begun.' ``` _ **The Demolished Man** _ might make a better movie if they figure out how to show someone reading someone else’s mind. I don’t think Bester gets enough credit. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/124 "2012-09-27T18:28:26Z")
“Need more data, damn it.” _Diplomatic Immunity_ by Lois McMaster Bujold. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/125 "2012-09-27T19:22:45Z")
“Oops.” – Ashes of Victory, David Weber ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/126 "2012-09-27T20:18:03Z")
The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/127 "2012-09-28T08:51:38Z")
By Grabthar’s hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged! “Strange game, it seems the only winning move is not to play.” We’re doomed. ---
**Author:** ![Luk3112](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a9adbd/32.png) [@Luk3112](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luk3112)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/128 "2012-09-28T10:04:19Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Good ones, people. Good ones. > > What do y’all think? For Tolkien which of these is better? > > “My precious…” > > “This was a hobbit hole. And that meant comfort.” Latter ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/129 "2012-09-28T15:19:15Z")
“All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.” Frank Herbert ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/130 "2012-09-28T16:37:16Z")
I think the OP may have his quotes already, but your Frank Herbert quote reminded me of two from his psychological drama, _[Under Pressure](http://www.amazon.com/Under-Pressure-Frank-Herbert/dp/0345298292)_. It’s a short read, but a good one. > [@](#): > > “I’m nuts,” said Sparrow. “But I’m nuts in a way which fits me perfectly to my world.” > [@](#): > > “What’s your definition of sanity, Skipper?” > “The ability to swim, said Sparrow. That means the sane person has to understand currents, has to know what’s required in different waters.” ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/131 "2012-09-28T16:56:47Z")
You’d better look up the actual word-for-word accuracy of any of these suggestions you actually use – quite a few of them are “off” by a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/132 "2012-09-28T18:28:40Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > I think the OP may have his quotes already, but your Frank Herbert quote reminded me of two from his psychological drama, _[Under Pressure](http://www.amazon.com/Under-Pressure-Frank-Herbert/dp/0345298292)_. It’s a short read, but a good one. I’ll second this. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/133 "2012-09-29T04:05:04Z")
The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house All that cold, cold, wet day. I sat there with Sally. We sat there, we two. And I said, “How I wish We had something to do!” Too wet to go out And too cold to play ball. So we sat in the house. We did nothing at all. So all we could do was to Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! And we did not like it. Not one little bit. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/134 "2012-09-29T05:58:56Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > What do y’all think? For Tolkien which of these is better? > > “My precious…” > > “This was a hobbit hole. And that meant comfort.” The latter is much better. “My precious” is more iconic and better known, but I don’t think it’s actually better. Besides, it seems like you want quotes that are instantly recognizable to fans of the work in question, but not quite so recognizable that any person who’s been awake for the last three decades can’t possibly miss it. Oh, and you’re missing: “A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.” ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/135 "2012-09-29T10:47:41Z")
> [@](#): > > “The Road goes ever on and on > Down from the door where it began. > Now far ahead the Road has gone, > And I must follow, if I can, > Pursuing it with eager feet, > Until it joins some larger way > Where many paths and errands meet. > And whither then? I cannot say” > > ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/136 "2012-09-29T13:06:01Z")
Only in silence the word, Only in dark the light, Only in dying life. Bright the hawk’s flight on the empty sky. _A Wizard of Earthsea_ by Ursula K. LeGuin ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/137 "2012-09-30T20:59:35Z")
“Somewhere out there, the sky is burning, the oceans sleep and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there’s danger, somewhere there’s injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. C’mon, Ace, we’ve got work to do.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/138 "2012-09-30T22:25:37Z")
The first thing that Tak wrote, He wrote Himself. ---
**Author:** ![MsBatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@MsBatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsBatt)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/139 "2012-10-01T05:30:38Z")
“I am endeavoring to make a mnemonic circuit from stone knives and bearskins.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616/140 "2012-10-01T07:23:45Z")
> [@rjk](#): > > “You must never run from anything immortal. It attracts their attention.” - Peter S. Beagle, _The Last unicorn_ “The bull was the color of blood – not the blood that springs from the heart, but the blood that stirs under an old wound that never really healed.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-quotes/635616.md?page=8)