R. A. Lafferty quotes

R. A. Lafferty was an American science fiction and fantasy writer known for his original style and inventive storytelling. His works blended mythology, tall tales, and surreal humor, making him a unique voice in speculative fiction. He inspired and influenced generations of writers with his unconventional narratives and remarkable imagination. Here are 62 of his quotes:

The good stories, of course, write themselves. And somebody wants to know who are the really good writers, and how many of them there are. There aren't any. Most of the writers are likeable frauds. Some are unlikable frauds. (R. A. Lafferty)
The best time to write a story is yesterday. The next best time is today. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
I write as clearly as I am able to. I sometimes tackle ideas and notions that are relatively complex, and it is very difficult to be sure that I am conveying them in the best way. Anyone who goes beyond cliche phrases and cliche ideas will have this trouble. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
Though my short stories are the more readable, my novels do have more to say; and they will, if anyone has the patience for it, repay a rereading. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
True love is that we should hate whatever interferes with our vision of the high and the lowly. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
When we travel we find how greatly our boyhood dreams are outstripped by reality. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
An excess of science will leave none of us alive. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
Lend ear while things incredible we bring about And Spacemen dead and deathless yet we sing about And some were weak and wan, and some were strong enough, And some got home, but damn it took them long enough! View quote
R. A. Lafferty
It was the most exclusive club in the world, in all the worlds, and this is a mighty pale statement to make about it. Let us emphasize that it was hard to get into. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
This petty place cannot be Hell, Roadstrum? Ah, but it is my friend. That, you see, is the hell of it. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
I've had enough of this place where they stuff you full of bull and then hunt you down and kill you every day. (R. A. Lafferty)
I will never tell anyone how much fun it is in this place. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
There are only two possible statements that can be made about the worlds," the Black Pope of the Carlist Hills had lectured one day. "Alpha: There is a God. Omega: there is not a God. To adhere to either of these two statements strongly is to be logical at least. Not to do so is to be in the snivelling wasteland between and to have no point of contact with logic or reason. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
These men were the salt of the skies, the one out of ten who had determinedly stayed alive through the whole war, very often hurt, absolutely refusing to be killed. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
My brain reels," moaned Homer the man. "Reality melts away. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
Put the nightmare together. If you do not wake up screaming, you have not put it together well. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
There are no rules. We do whatever seems the most fun. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
When you can't depend on the Devil, who can you depend on? View quote
R. A. Lafferty
I'll break the spell or the science of her singing yet. As the only man left it devolves on me to do it. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
Pirates are perhaps the greatest invention of Earth people," Elizabeth interrupted loftily, "and their pirate stories are wonderful entertainment for small children. We have to give Earth people credit for that, they invented pirates. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
Paul, there is something very slack about a future that will take a biting satire for a vapid dream. (R. A. Lafferty)
The Dong button was just that, a big green button with the word Dong engraved on it. You pushed it, and it went dong. Well, that was almost too simple. Should there not be a deeper reason for it? And the small instruction plate over it didn't add much. It read: "Wrong prong, bong gong.”. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
As regards very small celestial bodies of a light-minded nature, the law of levity is allowed to supersede the law of gravity. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
This myth filter was necessary. The ship logs could not tell it rightly nor could any flatfooted prose. And the deeds were too bright to be viewed direct. They could only be sung by a bard gone blind from viewing suns that were suns. View quote
R. A. Lafferty
Oh, I cannot abide these complacent clods," I exclaim. "I cannot relate to these opulent oafs who are laughing in the streets. They are not high enough or low enough. For my love I must find the poor, the deprived, the fornicators, the addicts, the drunkards, the unwashed,..." "Oh, these are the poor," the clod told me. "This is the poorest street in town, Index Y-Z. It's hard to tell them apart now except that the poor spend more ostentatiously than the rich do. View quote
R. A. Lafferty