Margaret Atwood quotes - page 21

Speculative fiction encompasses that which we could actually do. Sci-fi is that which we're probably not going to see. (Margaret Atwood)
Vampires get the joy of flying around and living forever, werewolves get the joy of animal spirits. But zombies, they're not rich, or aristocratic, they shuffle around. They're a group phenomenon, they're not very fast, they're quite sickly. So what's the pleasure of being one? View quote
Margaret Atwood
It's evening, one of those gray water-color washes, like liquid dust. View quote
Margaret Atwood
'1984' is not a wonder tale. Not only could it happen, but it has happened, but under different names. View quote
Margaret Atwood
More and more I feel like a letter-deposited here, collected there. But a letter addressed to no one. View quote
Margaret Atwood
Jimmy had been full of himself back then, thinks Snowman with indulgence and a little envy. HeÆd been unhappy too, of course. It went without saying, his unhappiness. HeÆd put a lot of energy into it. View quote
Margaret Atwood
Every utopia - let's just stick with the literary ones - faces the same problem: What do you do with the people who don't fit in? View quote
Margaret Atwood
Moira was like an elevator with open sides. She made us dizzy. View quote
Margaret Atwood
There is something powerful in the whispering of obscenities, about those in power. There's something delightful about it, something naughty, secretive, forbidden, thrilling. It's like a spell, of sorts. It deflates them, reduces them to the common denominator where they can be dealt. View quote
Margaret Atwood
Those walls and bars are there for a reason,ö said Crake. ôNot to keep us out, but to keep them in. Mankind needs barriers in both cases.ö ôThem?ö ôNature and God.ö ôI thought you didnÆt believe in God,ö said Jimmy. ôI donÆt believe in Nature either,ö said Crake. ôOr not with a capital N. View quote
Margaret Atwood
You will always have partial points of view, and you'll always have the story behind the story that hasn't come out yet. And any form of journalism you're involved with is going to be up against a biased viewpoint and partial knowledge. (Margaret Atwood)
For the children with their greedy little mouths represent the future, which like time itself will devour all now alive. View quote
Margaret Atwood
I feel despised there, for having so little money; also for once having had so much. I never actually had it, of course. Father had it, and then Richard. But money was imputed to me, the same way crimes are imputed to those who've simply been present at them. View quote
Margaret Atwood
Things might have been different if she hadn't been able to drift; if she'd had to concentrate on her next meal, instead of dwelling on all the injuries she felt we'd done her. An unearned income encourages self-pity in those already prone to it. View quote
Margaret Atwood
His mouth is on me, his hands, I can't wait and he's moving, already, love, it's been so long, I'm alive in my skin, again, arms around him, falling and water softly everywhere, never-ending. View quote
Margaret Atwood
To live in prison is to live without mirrors. To live without mirrors is to live without the self. She is living selflessly, she finds a hole in the stone wall and on the other side of the wall, a voice. The voice comes through darkness and has no face. This voice becomes her mirror. View quote
Margaret Atwood
I'm bad at picking heroes. View quote
Margaret Atwood
The prospect of his future life stretched before him like a sentence; not a prison sentence but a long-winded sentence with a lot of unnecessary subordinate clauses, as he was soon in the habit of quipping during Happy Hour pickup time at the local campus bars and pubs. He couldnÆt say he was looking forward to it, this rest-of-his-life. View quote
Margaret Atwood
The bell that measures time is ringing. View quote
Margaret Atwood
I've never bought into any sort of hard and fast, this-box/that-box characterization. People are individuals. Yes, they may be expected to be a particular way. But that doesn't mean they're going to be that way. View quote
Margaret Atwood
I'm the only person you've ever met who has read Longfellow. (Margaret Atwood)
But in the end, back she comes. There's no use resisting. She goes to him for amnesia, for oblivion. She renders herself up, is blotted out; enters the darkness of her own body, forgets her name. Immolation is what she wants, however briefly. To exist without boundaries. View quote
Margaret Atwood
HeÆd developed a strangely tender feeling towards such words, as if they were children abandoned in the woods and it was his duty to rescue them. View quote
Margaret Atwood
Things written down can cause a great deal of harm. All too often, people don't consider that. View quote
Margaret Atwood
I marvel again at the nakedness of men's lives: the showers right out in the open, the body exposed for inspection and comparison, the public display of privates. What is it for? What purposes of reassurance does it serve? The flashing of a badge, look, everyone, all is in order, I belong here. Why don't women have to prove to one another that they are women? Some form of unbuttoning, some split-crotch routine, just as casual. A doglike sniffing. View quote
Margaret Atwood