--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The future is unwritten. there are best…" description: "\"The future is unwritten. there are best case scenarios. There are worst-case scenarios. both of them are great fun to write about if you' re a science ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/913/bruce-sterling-3596_cases_the-future-is-unwritten-there-are-best-c_2103817.png" --- # The future is unwritten. there are best case scenarios… ![“The future is unwritten. there are best case scenarios. There are worst-case scenarios. both of them are great fun to write about if you' re a science fiction novelist, but neither of them ever happens in the real world. What happens in the real world is always a sideways-case scenario…” quote by Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/913/bruce-sterling-3596_cases_the-future-is-unwritten-there-are-best-c_2103817.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/913/bruce-sterling-3596_cases_the-future-is-unwritten-there-are-best-c_2103817.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/913/bruce-sterling-3596_cases_the-future-is-unwritten-there-are-best-c_2103817.png) > “The future is unwritten. there are best case scenarios. There are worst-case scenarios. both of them are great fun to write about if you' re a science fiction novelist, but neither of them ever happens in the real world. What happens in the real world is always a sideways-case scenario. World-changing marvels to us, are only wallpaper to our children.” [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote contrasts imaginative speculative scenarios with mundane reality, suggesting real change is incremental and often unnoticed. **In simple terms:** Real change is gradual, not dramatic. Key Takeaway Focus on everyday impact. Themes technology future reality incremental change Mood reflective thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - writing sci‑fi - urban planning - policy making - education reform Key Concepts speculative fiction social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How can we value small improvements? - What everyday actions shape the future? A Different Perspective Idealized scenarios rarely materialize. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fun/) [Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) [Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists/) [Real world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-world/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“I live in a world of worst-case scenarios.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/i-live-in-a-world-of-worst-case-scenarios/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [World War III would become a great possibility, but such a scenario is quite possible under any new US administration... To answer your question:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/world-war-iii-would-become-a-great-possibility-but-such-a-scenario-is/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [Sci-Fi is the genre that explored both possibilities: the end of our existential crisis and the end of our existence. My novel, 'The 5th…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/sci-fi-is-the-genre-that-explored-both-possibilities-the-end-of-our/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [In order for the Prevail Scenario to work ... you will have to have a world in which you have both differences between people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-garreau/in-order-for-the-prevail-scenario-to-work-you-will-have-to-have-a/) [Joel Garreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-garreau/) > [If Iran and North Korea, by some horrible, devilish, nightmarish scenario, got together and went to war at the same time, one against Saudi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stein/if-iran-and-north-korea-by-some-horrible-devilish-nightmarish/) [Ben Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-stein/) > [We created a show and a scenario for college students where they can take what they learn in class every day and apply it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-martin/we-created-a-show-and-a-scenario-for-college-students-where-they-can/) Ross Martin > [A good scenario doesn't make a good science fiction story - but it's a setting within which a good science fiction story might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamais-cascio/a-good-scenario-doesn-t-make-a-good-science-fiction-story-but-it-s-a/) [Jamais Cascio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamais-cascio/) > [A plan is only a scenario, and almost by definition, it is optimistic... 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It's basically going to become a normal thing for us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-schell/new-video-gaming-systems-are-coming-out-that-track-every-joint-of/) [Jesse Schell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-schell/) > [Whatever the scenario, the dynamism of developing nations, their demographics and competitive power are great sources for superiority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-babacan/whatever-the-scenario-the-dynamism-of-developing-nations-their/) [Ali Babacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-babacan/) > [Always play for the worst case scenario..If it is the best you'll win anyway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-trott/always-play-for-the-worst-case-scenario-if-it-is-the-best-you-ll-win/) David Trott ## More by Bruce Sterling > [They used to be seen as insane or unthinkable acts of madmen. But if they take place they'll be called 'war' too. And there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/they-used-to-be-seen-as-insane-or-unthinkable-acts-of-madmen-but-if/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [“You give a guy a license to steal, you've got to expect him to use it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/you-give-a-guy-a-license-to-steal-you-ve-got-to-expect-him-to-use-it/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [“America hadn't really been suited for its long and tiresome role as the Last Superpower, the World's Policeman. As a patriotic American, Oscar was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/america-hadn-t-really-been-suited-for-its-long-and-tiresome-role-as/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [“But the economy's out of control. Money just doesn't need human beings anymore. Most of us only get in the way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/but-the-economy-s-out-of-control-money-just-doesn-t-need-human-beings/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [It's going to be really interesting to see what the heroin market does in the next two years or so. One thing you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/it-s-going-to-be-really-interesting-to-see-what-the-heroin-market/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [Information wants you to give me a dollar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/information-wants-you-to-give-me-a-dollar/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [Architects thrive after massive urban disasters. The abject collapse of East Berlin gave us the only city in Europe with a mighty host of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/architects-thrive-after-massive-urban-disasters-the-abject-collapse/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [Information wants to be free. Believe it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/information-wants-to-be-free-believe-it/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [The internet brought many laudable things, but prosperity, stability, accountability and honest politics were not four of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/the-internet-brought-many-laudable-things-but-prosperity-stability/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [I was once a student in a punk T-Shirt hooked on screwed-up scenarios. 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I actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/i-wouldn-t-describe-that-position-as-parasitic-i-d-describe-that/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) [Explore all 126 Bruce Sterling quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) ## More Cases quotes > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [I'd always have grease in at least two places, in case the umpires would ask me to wipe one off. 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