Jeff VanderMeer Quotes

53 quotes in 789 categories

• That's how the madness of the world tries to colonize you: from the outside in, forcing you to live in its reality.
• The map had been the first form of misdirection, for what is a map but a way of emphasizing some things and making other things…
• Nothing that lived and breathed was truly objective—even in a vacuum, even if all that possessed the brain was a self-immolating desire for the truth.
• You can either waste time worrying about a death that might not come or concentrate on what’s left to you.
• You could know the what of something forever and never discover the why.
• Position yourself to succeed by doing the other things in your life that rejuvenate you. You can create little islands of time away from your…
• Film fixes a precise visual image in the viewer's head. In fiction, you just hope you're precise enough to convey the intended effect.
• History has shown us all too often the consequences of dreaming poorly or not at all.
• I always try to be alert to the potential for repetition, for a decaying orbit with regard to my use of technique, etc.
• I have always tended toward a lush prose style, but I take care to modulate it from story to story and to strip it down…
• So many differing opinions and philosophies... are rarely housed under the roof of a single magazine.
• I’ve got...ways of tricking my brain into getting what I need out of it
• I do believe very much in the idea of unexpected or "convulsive" beauty - beauty in the service of liberty.
• What occurs after revelation and paralysis?
• I see music as an aid. It overcomes my internal editor, especially when the music evokes the character or the mood I'm trying to build.
• There's also a lot of gritty Americana type of bands. I actually have a lot of Britpop on my iPod, too.
• The music I listen to while writing is really scene-specific. It's just a great motivator, a way to put myself in the mood.
• My mother is an artist, and I have a strong visual sense. I almost always choose the cover art for my books. I've learned that…
• When we wake, it is because something, some event, some pinprick even, disturbs the edges of what we’ve taken as reality.
• Some questions will ruin you if you are denied the answer long enough.

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