Octavia E. Butler Quotes

• In order to rise from its own ashes, a Phoenix first must burn.

  Octavia E. Butler

  Topics in Death

• You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.

  Octavia E. Butler

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Writing

• Writing is one of the few professions in which you can psychoanalyse yourself, get rid of hostilities and frustrations in public, and get paid for it.

  Octavia E. Butler

• While Fledging is a different type of book, The Parable series serve as cautionary tales. I wrote the Parable books because of the direction of the country. You can call it save the world fiction, but it clearly doesn’t save anything.

  Octavia E. Butler

• What I’m working on now – I’m back to fantasy, although considering that it’s me, I’m turning it into a kind of science fantasy. It’s a vampire story – but my vampires are biological vampires. They didn’t become vampires because someone bit them; they were born that way.

  Octavia E. Butler

• Well, writing was what I wanted to do, it was always what I wanted to do. I had novels to write so I wrote them.

  Octavia E. Butler

• Third, for people who aren’t doing it already, take classes – they’re worthwhile. Workshops or classes – a workshop is where you do actually get feedback on your work, not just something where you go and sit for a day.

  Octavia E. Butler

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

  Octavia E. Butler

• Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it’s all over.

  Octavia E. Butler

  Topics in Friendship

• So fantasy was fine early on, and when I discovered science fiction, I was very happy with it, because my first interest in science fiction came with an interest in astronomy.

  Octavia E. Butler

• Science fiction let me do both. It let me look into science and stick my nose in everywhere.

  Octavia E. Butler

• 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.

  Octavia E. Butler

• People have the right to call themselves whatever they like. That doesn’t bother me. It’s other people doing the calling that bothers me.

  Octavia E. Butler

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Freedom

• Once you grow past Mommy and Daddy coming running when you’re hurt, you’re really on your own. You’re alone, and there’s no one to help you.

  Octavia E. Butler

• On the other hand, I was very much interested in the way people behaved, the human dance, how they seemed to move around each other. I wanted to play around with that.

  Octavia E. Butler

• No… a novel is a long business. I’m a slow writer, even when I’m doing very well I write slowly.

  Octavia E. Butler

• No, I think the future of humanity will be like the past, we’ll do what we’ve always done and there will still be human beings. Granted, there will always be people doing something different and there are a lot of possibilities.

  Octavia E. Butler

• No one was going to stop me from writing and no one had to really guide me towards science fiction. It was natural, really, that I would take that interest.

  Octavia E. Butler

• Most of us don’t have to worry about being shot of we poke our noses outside. So we are comfortable, but the people I’m writing about are definitely not comfortable, and being shot while they’re still inside is a good possibility.

  Octavia E. Butler

• I would never have been a good scientist – my attention span was too short for that.

  Octavia E. Butler

Octavia E. Butler (34)

Birth:	22nd June, 1947
Death:	24th February, 2006
Nationality:	American
Profession:	Novelist, Writer

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Births

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