Skip to content

Fiction Quotes by Arthur C. Clarke

19 Fiction quotes by Arthur C. Clarke

All Fiction quotes Arthur C. Clarke’s page

Clarke’s imagination stretched beyond the stars, yet his thoughts on fiction stay grounded in human curiosity. Nineteen snippets here sketch his belief that stories are the engine of progress, perfect for anyone who loves a blend of wonder and logic.

Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

Science fiction seldom attempts to predict the future. More often than not, it tries to prevent the future.

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

Isaac Asimov is, in reality, based on something I had invented a few years previously.

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

The success of a science fiction writer is if he can write a good read.

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

But please remember: this is only a work of fiction. The truth, as always, will be far stranger.

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

“Science fiction could now be made far more convincing by science fact.”

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

“Well, I guess [2001: A Space Odyssey] legitimized [science fiction], particularly for people who looked down on science fiction; you know, the…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

“science fiction is something that could happen—but usually you wouldn’t want it to. Fantasy is something that couldn’t happen—though often you only…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

In accordance with the terms of the Clarke-Asimov treaty, the second-best science writer dedicates this book to the second-best science-fiction writer. [dedication…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

'The Devil in the Dark' impressed me because it presented the idea, unusual in science fiction then and now, that something weird,…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

One of the biggest roles of science fiction is to prepare people to accept the future without pain and to encourage a…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

Please help keep the world clean: others may wish to use it. Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

'2001' was written in an age which now lies beyond one of the great divides in human history; we are sundered from…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

Attempting to define science fiction is an undertaking almost as difficult, though not so popular, as trying to define pornography... In both…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

A precondition for being a science fiction writer other than an interest in the future is that, an interest - at least…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

There's no real objection to escapism, in the right places... We all want to escape occasionally. But science fiction is often very…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

Much blood has also been spilled on the carpet in attempts to distinguish between science fiction and fantasy. I have suggested an…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

“To be a science fiction writer you must be interested in the future and you must feel that the future will be…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

Science fiction does not attempt to predict. It extrapolates. It just says, "What if?" not what will be? Because you can never…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

Other authors on Fiction

More by Arthur C. Clarke

Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware,…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

We cannot predict the new forces, powers, and discoveries that will be disclosed to us when we reach the other planets and set up…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

I am unable to distinguish clearly between your religious ceremonies and apparently identical behavior at the sporting and cultural functions you have transmitted to…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

I don't believe in astrology; I'm a Sagittarius and we're skeptical.

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

You can't have it both ways. You can't have both free will and a benevolent higher power who protects you from yourself.

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

Astronomy, as nothing else can do, teaches men humility.

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

Nowhere in space will we rest our eyes upon the familiar shapes of trees and plants, or any of the animals that share our…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

“The universe is full of energy, but much of it is at equilibrium. At equilibrium no energy can flow, and therefore it cannot be…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

“Here the trees surrounded them with an invisible, anechoic blanket, so that every word seemed sucked into silence the moment it was uttered.”

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

“I’m a scientific expert; that means I know nothing about absolutely everything.”

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

There were some things that only time could cure. Evil men could be destroyed, but nothing could be done with good men who were…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

“Pure coincidence, of course, but a sensible man makes coincidences work for him.”

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

They will have time enough, in those endless aeons, to attempt all things, and to gather all knowledge no Gods imagined by our minds…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

“One thing seems certain. Our galaxy is now in the brief springtime of its life—a springtime made glorious by such brilliant blue-white stars as…

Arthur C. Clarke

Image

Now I understand,” said the last man.

Arthur C. Clarke

Image