--- title: "18 Ifs Quotes By Quentin S. Crisp" description: "18 Ifs quotes by Quentin S. Crisp. Plus more from Quentin S. Crisp and more Ifs sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/749/quentin-s-crisp-4149_david-thoreau_if-there-is-innocence-on-earth-again-i-t_3176528.jpg" --- > [ If there is innocence on Earth again, I tend to imagine it in more \[Henry David\]Thoreau sort of terms. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/if-there-is-innocence-on-earth-again-i-tend-to-imagine-it-in-more/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/749/quentin-s-crisp-4149_david-thoreau_if-there-is-innocence-on-earth-again-i-t_3176528.jpg) > [If we do overcome linear time, I would hope this means dwelling more directly in the fertility of the imagination rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/if-we-do-overcome-linear-time-i-would-hope-this-means-dwelling-more/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f02/quentin-s-crisp-4149_aspect_if-we-do-overcome-linear-time-i-would-ho_1249946.jpg) > [ If we do want to do that \[ colonise space to survive, \], then vacuous materialism is not going to be enough for us. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/if-we-do-want-to-do-that-colonise-space-to-survive-then-vacuous/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c5/quentin-s-crisp-4149_enough_if-we-do-want-to-do-that-colonise-space_40648.jpg) > [I don't know if Britain ever really achieved that much glamour. We had post-war austerity rather than post-war prosperity, and our cultural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-don-t-know-if-britain-ever-really-achieved-that-much-glamour-we-had/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ecd/quentin-s-crisp-4149_austerity_i-don-t-know-if-britain-ever-really-achi_1937624.jpg) > [I feel a little as if the Buddhism is creeping back, but I mention all this simply in order to illustrate that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-feel-a-little-as-if-the-buddhism-is-creeping-back-but-i-mention-all/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de3/quentin-s-crisp-4149_buddhism_i-feel-a-little-as-if-the-buddhism-is-cr_1030109.jpg) > [If you look at the ox-herding pictures - specifically the newer set of ten pictures rather than the older set of eight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/if-you-look-at-the-ox-herding-pictures-specifically-the-newer-set-of/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91a/quentin-s-crisp-4149_activity_if-you-look-at-the-ox-herding-pictures-s_2996587.jpg) > [Anyway, yes, telephones but not mobile phones, fish and chips still wrapped in actual newspaper and still with some kind of flavour,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/anyway-yes-telephones-but-not-mobile-phones-fish-and-chips-still/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abb/quentin-s-crisp-4149_able_anyway-yes-telephones-but-not-mobile-pho_3068318.jpg) > [Some people have described Daoism as pantheist, and although there's something in me that resists this designation, I can see that Daoism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/some-people-have-described-daoism-as-pantheist-and-although-there-s/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf0/quentin-s-crisp-4149_consistent_some-people-have-described-daoism-as-pan_2154217.jpg) > [When I think back on it, I have a sense of relaxation, as if in the seventies no one had to try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/when-i-think-back-on-it-i-have-a-sense-of-relaxation-as-if-in-the/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/quentin-s-crisp-4149_ifs_when-i-think-back-on-it-i-have-a-sense-o_1462483.jpg) > [I like the concept of an anti-muse, though I'm not quite sure what that is. If there is such a thing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-like-the-concept-of-an-anti-muse-though-i-m-not-quite-sure-what/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/quentin-s-crisp-4149_concepts_i-like-the-concept-of-an-anti-muse-thoug_394954.jpg) > [I feel almost as if I had been born in a vacuum of innocence, and then had to come to terms with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-feel-almost-as-if-i-had-been-born-in-a-vacuum-of-innocence-and-then/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/275/quentin-s-crisp-4149_born_i-feel-almost-as-if-i-had-been-born-in-a_2429572.jpg) > [Western progress (from one damned thing to another) seems to be essentially the MO of nowhere fast. But, on the other hand,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/western-progress-from-one-damned-thing-to-another-seems-to-be/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72f/quentin-s-crisp-4149_buddhism_western-progress-from-one-damned-thing-t_2709511.jpg) > [I began researching and writing what I intended as a book-length essay entitled Fascination and Liberation, exploring the question of whether there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-began-researching-and-writing-what-i-intended-as-a-book-length/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/quentin-s-crisp-4149_antibodies_i-began-researching-and-writing-what-i-i_2093517.jpg) > [The research reading I did for Fascination and Liberation included some Jung, and I noticed that he had a similar impression of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/the-research-reading-i-did-for-fascination-and-liberation-included/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/quentin-s-crisp-4149_buddhism_the-research-reading-i-did-for-fascinati_1979262.jpg) > [I'm not sure if there is a cultural loss of innocence specifically associated with the seventies. The oil crisis? The Watergate scandal?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-m-not-sure-if-there-is-a-cultural-loss-of-innocence-specifically/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78a/quentin-s-crisp-4149_crisis_i-m-not-sure-if-there-is-a-cultural-loss_3001184.jpg) > [People often refer to a creative ability as a 'gift', and, of course, it is, in that, if I had sat down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/people-often-refer-to-a-creative-ability-as-a-gift-and-of-course-it/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f25/quentin-s-crisp-4149_ability_people-often-refer-to-a-creative-ability_775948.jpg) > [If future history is not to be just one damned thing after another in space, then what we really have to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/if-future-history-is-not-to-be-just-one-damned-thing-after-another-in/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/quentin-s-crisp-4149_existence_if-future-history-is-not-to-be-just-one_2876034.jpg) > [When we fail to live up to our ideals, for instance, we might begin to wonder who we are - most people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/when-we-fail-to-live-up-to-our-ideals-for-instance-we-might-begin-to/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86b/quentin-s-crisp-4149_discrepancies_when-we-fail-to-live-up-to-our-ideals-fo_1237348.jpg) ## Other authors on Ifs ## More by Quentin S. Crisp > [I have a sense of them being Easter religions, for some reason. Christianity, of course, is a mystery religion, too, and I believe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-have-a-sense-of-them-being-easter-religions-for-some-reason/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [ If we do want to do that \[ colonise space to survive, \], then vacuous materialism is not going to be enough for us. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/if-we-do-want-to-do-that-colonise-space-to-survive-then-vacuous/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [I seemed to recall some words from an old Zen master, something like, "My Zen cuts down mountains." My rejection of Buddhism was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-seemed-to-recall-some-words-from-an-old-zen-master-something-like/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [ This is the strange thing about existing in time. As \[Philip\] Larkin puts it, "truly, though our element is time, we are not used… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/this-is-the-strange-thing-about-existing-in-time-as-philip-larkin/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [I've never been baptised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-ve-never-been-baptised/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [It would be hard to say that exactly, but antinatalism is a reality in my life, not just an interesting idea. I can feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/it-would-be-hard-to-say-that-exactly-but-antinatalism-is-a-reality-in/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [ \[william\] Burroughs, incidentally, took up the slogan that we are "Here to go", which contradicts the tendency in Eastern mysticism to advocate staying where… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/william-burroughs-incidentally-took-up-the-slogan-that-we-are-here-to/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [As children in the seventies we were told about nebulous 'strangers'. By definition, we didn't know who these strangers were, and we didn't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/as-children-in-the-seventies-we-were-told-about-nebulous-strangers-by/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [This is part of the fundamental character of Buddhism that I find problematic - that it is not interested in anything. Hence the 'Fascination'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/this-is-part-of-the-fundamental-character-of-buddhism-that-i-find/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [ I also remember a line from a song by Smog \[Bill Callahan\], which seems to describe the experience of a town-dweller moving to the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-also-remember-a-line-from-a-song-by-smog-bill-callahan-which-seems/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [This strong sense of who I am that I've always had, since I was very young, is what makes me write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/this-strong-sense-of-who-i-am-that-i-ve-always-had-since-i-was-very/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [I like the concept of an anti-muse, though I'm not quite sure what that is. If there is such a thing in my life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-like-the-concept-of-an-anti-muse-though-i-m-not-quite-sure-what/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [ I really think \[William\] Burroughs was onto something here, when he said, "Dreams are a biologic necessity and your lifeline into space." ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-really-think-william-burroughs-was-onto-something-here-when-he-said/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [ \[My muse\] is, in fact, a woman of the world, and precisely because of this, hopes that a diversity of cultures will endure, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/my-muse-is-in-fact-a-woman-of-the-world-and-precisely-because-of-this/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [I do have a muse. I am not sure how to describe her. She can be very elusive. She was born in England but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-do-have-a-muse-i-am-not-sure-how-to-describe-her-she-can-be-very/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/quentin-s-crisp/#itemlist", "name": "18 Ifs Quotes By Quentin S. Crisp", "numberOfItems": 18, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If there is innocence on Earth again, I tend to imagine it in more [Henry David]Thoreau sort of terms.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Quentin S. 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We had post-war austerity rather than post-war prosperity, and our cultural products of the time include some pretty dour kitchen-sink dramas of the A Kind of Loving variety. (This kind of film seems disillusioned with the sixties before they've even really begun.)", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Quentin S. Crisp" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/i-don-t-know-if-britain-ever-really-achieved-that-much-glamour-we-had/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ecd/quentin-s-crisp-4149_austerity_i-don-t-know-if-britain-ever-really-achi_1937624.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ecd/quentin-s-crisp-4149_austerity_i-don-t-know-if-britain-ever-really-achi_1937624.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ecd/quentin-s-crisp-4149_austerity_i-don-t-know-if-britain-ever-really-achi_1937624.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't know if Britain ever really achieved that much glamour. 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Crisp", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you look at the ox-herding pictures - specifically the newer set of ten pictures rather than the older set of eight - you see that after the blank circle of the void, the cycle comes back to a river flowing by the roots of a tree (both strong symbols of nature, the life-force, the unconscious) and to the wanderer returning to the market place, which is the realm of human society and activity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Quentin S. Crisp" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/if-you-look-at-the-ox-herding-pictures-specifically-the-newer-set-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91a/quentin-s-crisp-4149_activity_if-you-look-at-the-ox-herding-pictures-s_2996587.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91a/quentin-s-crisp-4149_activity_if-you-look-at-the-ox-herding-pictures-s_2996587.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91a/quentin-s-crisp-4149_activity_if-you-look-at-the-ox-herding-pictures-s_2996587.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you look at the ox-herding pictures - specifically the newer set of ten pictures rather than the older…” — Quentin S. Crisp", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Anyway, yes, telephones but not mobile phones, fish and chips still wrapped in actual newspaper and still with some kind of flavour, people visiting each other without having to consult their appointment diaries, not being able to record anything from the television; if you missed it you missed it - these were all the kinds of thing that made up the normality of the seventies.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Quentin S. 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