--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As sci-fi writer Theodore Sturgeon said…" description: "\"“As sci-fi writer Theodore Sturgeon said, 90 percent of everything is crap. But science fiction has not been forgiven for its crap. The reason is that ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/david-brin-3024_fiction_as-sci-fi-writer-theodore-sturgeon-said_1845198.jpg" --- # As sci-fi writer Theodore Sturgeon said, 90 percent of… ![“As sci-fi writer Theodore Sturgeon said, 90 percent of everything is crap. But science fiction has not been forgiven for its crap. The reason is that science fiction inherently distrusts the 'eternal verities' on which literature graduates base their doctoral dissertations. Literature departments…” quote by David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/david-brin-3024_fiction_as-sci-fi-writer-theodore-sturgeon-said_1845198.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/david-brin-3024_fiction_as-sci-fi-writer-theodore-sturgeon-said_1845198.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/david-brin-3024_fiction_as-sci-fi-writer-theodore-sturgeon-said_1845198.jpg) > ““As sci-fi writer Theodore Sturgeon said, 90 percent of everything is crap. But science fiction has not been forgiven for its crap. The reason is that science fiction inherently distrusts the 'eternal verities' on which literature graduates base their doctoral dissertations. Literature departments were uncomfortable with that. But things change.”” [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Science fiction challenges academic conventions, exposing flawed assumptions and prompting intellectual growth. **In simple terms:** SF questions norms, drives progress. Key Takeaway Embrace critique, value fresh perspectives. Themes creativity critique academia innovation literature Mood reflective provocative Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - writing workshops - college literature courses - publishing meetings - genre conferences Key Concepts postmodernism epistemology genre theory Questions to Reflect On - How does questioning tradition benefit art? - When does criticism become cynicism? A Different Perspective Some readers may dismiss valuable ideas as mere "crap". ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) [Things change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-change/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [There's a lot of crap out there. Most of the science fiction films alone are abominations, you know. They're mindless. So you can't learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/there-s-a-lot-of-crap-out-there-most-of-the-science-fiction-films/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Whether it is done quickly or slowly, however splendid the results, the process of writing fiction is inherently, inevitably, indistinguishable from wasting time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-eisenberg/whether-it-is-done-quickly-or-slowly-however-splendid-the-results-the/) [Deborah Eisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-eisenberg/) > [So here's my theory, and this is such crap science, I don't have to tell you. It's science without microscopes, blood tests, or reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/so-here-s-my-theory-and-this-is-such-crap-science-i-don-t-have-to/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [Writing fiction is an inherently political activity because people-even imaginary ones-do not live in vacuums... From Twilight to Romeo and Juliet to The Little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/writing-fiction-is-an-inherently-political-activity-because-people/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [There's always been a little bit of tension between the writers of science fiction literature and then science-fiction televised shows or movies, partly because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-scalzi/there-s-always-been-a-little-bit-of-tension-between-the-writers-of/) [John Scalzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-scalzi/) > [Its funny how things change my mood so quickly, one minute I'm happy and in a good mood, next thing you know I'm depressed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-funny-how-things-change-my-mood-so-quickly-one-minute-i-m-happy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It has been my experience that nothing changes a person's life more than the discovery of one solitary truth: There is a meaning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-kelly/it-has-been-my-experience-that-nothing-changes-a-person-s-life-more/) [Matthew Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-kelly/) > [If you talk about change but don't change the reward and recognition system, nothing changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allaire/if-you-talk-about-change-but-don-t-change-the-reward-and-recognition/) Paul Allaire > [“depend on things that change less often than you do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandi-metz/depend-on-things-that-change-less-often-than-you-do/) [Sandi Metz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandi-metz/) > [“Things will change: you won't feel this way forever. And anyway, sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your soul needs most.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-cutrone/things-will-change-you-won-t-feel-this-way-forever-and-anyway/) [Kelly Cutrone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-cutrone/) > [The key to why things change is the key to everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-e-burke/the-key-to-why-things-change-is-the-key-to-everything/) James E. Burke > [Things change very quickly. You have to be prepared and ready and on your toes at all times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gustafsson/things-change-very-quickly-you-have-to-be-prepared-and-ready-and-on/) [Alexander Gustafsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gustafsson/) > [“Life has a way of doing that; one minute everything makes sense, the next, things change. People get sick. Families break apart, your friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-murray/life-has-a-way-of-doing-that-one-minute-everything-makes-sense-the/) [Liz Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-murray/) > [Obviously, when you don't win, things have to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-thornton/obviously-when-you-don-t-win-things-have-to-change/) [Joe Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-thornton/) > [Its strange how things change, and the one person you're close to seems like the person you now know the least.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-strange-how-things-change-and-the-one-person-you-re-close-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by David Brin > [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [Anything done in secret is more likely to result in terrible errors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/anything-done-in-secret-is-more-likely-to-result-in-terrible-errors/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“Men can be brilliant and strong, they whispered to one another. But men can be mad, as well. And the mad ones can ruin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/men-can-be-brilliant-and-strong-they-whispered-to-one-another-but-men/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [Strutting and preening is, in fact, the surest sign of an inferiority complex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/strutting-and-preening-is-in-fact-the-surest-sign-of-an-inferiority/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“We aren’t a curse upon the world. We are her new eyes. Her brain, testes, ovaries . . . her ambition and her heart.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/we-aren-t-a-curse-upon-the-world-we-are-her-new-eyes-her-brain-testes/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [If you believe you can make a living as a writer, you already have enough ego.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/if-you-believe-you-can-make-a-living-as-a-writer-you-already-have/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [Historically, central planners have generally done a poor job of managing economic resources - this we've known since the time of the Pharaohs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/historically-central-planners-have-generally-done-a-poor-job-of/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [A neurosis defends itself by coming up with rationalizations to explain away bizarre behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/a-neurosis-defends-itself-by-coming-up-with-rationalizations-to/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [Alas, criticism has always been what human beings, especially leaders, most hate to hear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/alas-criticism-has-always-been-what-human-beings-especially-leaders/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [It's how creativity works. Especially in humans. For every good idea, ten thousand idiotic ones must first be posed, sifted, tried out, and discarded.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/it-s-how-creativity-works-especially-in-humans-for-every-good-idea/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [Tragedies such as Nevil Shute's 'On the Beach' and Stanley Kubrick's 'Dr Strangelove' are so powerful because there's an underlying assumption that this did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/tragedies-such-as-nevil-shute-s-on-the-beach-and-stanley-kubrick-s-dr/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [In contrast, markets - oft mythologized as "natural" are the most unnatural things going. Libertarians will tell you "market laws are laws of nature",…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/in-contrast-markets-oft-mythologized-as-natural-are-the-most/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“Snow and soot covered the ancient tree's broken branches and seared bark. It wasn't dead, not quite yet. Here and there tiny shoots of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/snow-and-soot-covered-the-ancient-tree-s-broken-branches-and-seared/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“As simple an act as reading or writing a sentence must be surrounded by perceptory nap and weave . . . an itch, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/as-simple-an-act-as-reading-or-writing-a-sentence-must-be-surrounded/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [Ideologies are too seductive anyway. It does a man good to see things from a different point of view.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/ideologies-are-too-seductive-anyway-it-does-a-man-good-to-see-things/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) [Explore all 142 David Brin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) Phil Hogan > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) Edward Einhorn > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) Coheed and Cambria > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“His hands on my waist he gently pulled me n embrace. I could feel his breath on my face our lips were about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-eglinger/his-hands-on-my-waist-he-gently-pulled-me-n-embrace-i-could-feel-his/) [Nicole Eglinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-eglinger/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/metafiction-says-something-it-has-to-do-with-taking-a-large-fiction/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) [Browse all 7,410 Fiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As sci-fi writer Theodore Sturgeon said, 90 percent of everything is crap. But science fiction has not been forgiven for its crap. The reason is that science fiction inherently distrusts the 'eternal verities' on which literature graduates base their doctoral dissertations. Literature departments were uncomfortable with that. But things change.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Brin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/as-sci-fi-writer-theodore-sturgeon-said-90-percent-of-everything-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fiction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/as-sci-fi-writer-theodore-sturgeon-said-90-percent-of-everything-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/david-brin-3024_fiction_as-sci-fi-writer-theodore-sturgeon-said_1845198.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/david-brin-3024_fiction_as-sci-fi-writer-theodore-sturgeon-said_1845198.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/david-brin-3024_fiction_as-sci-fi-writer-theodore-sturgeon-said_1845198.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As sci-fi writer Theodore Sturgeon said, 90 percent of everything is crap. But science fiction has not been…” — David Brin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "David Brin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“As sci-fi writer Theodore Sturgeon said,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/as-sci-fi-writer-theodore-sturgeon-said-90-percent-of-everything-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/as-sci-fi-writer-theodore-sturgeon-said-90-percent-of-everything-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```