I grew up in Harlem, a block away from what was then the most crowded block in New York City, according to the 1950 census. Something like ten thousand people lived in one city block. — Samuel R. Delany Copy Share Image
I was a kid who liked art and theater and dance and music, but if you lived in Harlem, high culture was somewhere else, and it wasn't black. — Samuel R. Delany Copy Share Image
A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the… — Samuel R. Delany Copy Share Image
'You spin in the sky, the world spins under you, and you step from land to land, while we . . .' She turned… — Samuel R. Delany Copy Share Image
“People probably do hear watches go tic-tok. But I’m sure my childhood clock went tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic…Why” — Samuel R. Delany Copy Share Image
“I wanted to get out, Vyme, to keep going and not be trapped, to be free.... only I was cruel. I had the chance… — Samuel R. Delany Copy Share Image
A number of things in 'Dhalgren' are just meant to function as mysteries. They're mysteries when the book begins, and they're mysteries when the… — Samuel R. Delany Copy Share Image
The pulp hero, though he may be a renegade, is a guy who doesn't feel. Anything. Ever. And for the adolescent male - pummeled… — Samuel R. Delany Copy Share Image
“they were nice in a useless sort of way, which is, after all, the only way to be truly nice.” — Samuel R. Delany Copy Share Image
“Neurotics, proceed with delusions of grandeur. Napoleon Bonaparte, take the lead. Jesus Christ, bring up the rear. Simulate severe depression. Non-communicative with repressed hostility.” — Samuel R. Delany Copy Share Image
“Do you follow the wrestling? Most people think it's illegal, but you can watch it there. Ruby and Python are on display this evening.” — Samuel R. Delany Copy Share Image
Spending practically every minute of your day on pure survival is an absolutely boring life. — Samuel R. Delany Copy Share Image
