--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do you think the saucer actually had an…" description: "\"“Do you think the saucer actually had an inertialess drive—like E. E. Smith's bergenholms or something?” Harry McHeath asked Doc. “Have to, I'd think,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/fritz-leiber-11218_science-fiction_do-you-think-the-saucer-actually-had-an_2082913.jpg" --- # Do you think the saucer actually had an inertialess… ![“Do you think the saucer actually had an inertialess drive—like E. E. Smith's bergenholms or something?” Harry McHeath asked Doc. “Have to, I'd think, the way it was jumping around. In a situation like this, science fiction is our only guide. On the other hand—” quote by Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/fritz-leiber-11218_science-fiction_do-you-think-the-saucer-actually-had-an_2082913.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/fritz-leiber-11218_science-fiction_do-you-think-the-saucer-actually-had-an_2082913.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b05/fritz-leiber-11218_science-fiction_do-you-think-the-saucer-actually-had-an_2082913.jpg) > ““Do you think the saucer actually had an inertialess drive—like E. E. Smith's bergenholms or something?” Harry McHeath asked Doc.  “Have to, I'd think, the way it was jumping around. In a situation like this, science fiction is our only guide. On the other hand—”” [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The character wonders if an alien craft uses a speculative drive, noting sci‑fi as the only guide in unknown situations. **In simple terms:** Science fiction offers ideas when real science lacks answers. Key Takeaway Use imagination to explore unknown tech. Themes science fiction speculation technology Mood curious speculative Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - space travel - future tech design - creative brainstorming Key Concepts inertialess drive imaginative problem solving Questions to Reflect On - What limits does sci‑fi impose on real research? - How can imagination stay grounded? A Different Perspective Speculation may mislead without empirical evidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actually Inertialess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actually-inertialess-4076859/) [Inertialess Drive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inertialess-drive-4076860/) [Saucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saucer-365374/) [Saucer Actually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saucer-actually-4076858/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Think Saucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-saucer-4076857/) ## Related quotes > [For the artist, the color, the bouquet, the tinkling of the spoon on the saucer, are things in the highest degree. He stops at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/for-the-artist-the-color-the-bouquet-the-tinkling-of-the-spoon-on-the/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [memory is to love what the saucer is to the cup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/memory-is-to-love-what-the-saucer-is-to-the-cup/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [The white saucer like some full moon descends / At last from the clouds of the table above.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-monro/the-white-saucer-like-some-full-moon-descends-at-last-from-the-clouds-2/) [Harold Monro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-monro/) > [Once upon a time there was a saucer pie. A saucer pie is one that is baked in a saucer instead of a pan;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maud-lindsay/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-saucer-pie-a-saucer-pie-is-one-that-is/) [Maud Lindsay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maud-lindsay/) > [“The white saucer like some full moon descends At last from the clouds of the table above; She sighs and dreams and thrills and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-monro/the-white-saucer-like-some-full-moon-descends-at-last-from-the-clouds/) [Harold Monro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-monro/) > [I can stick uphill ice, on my saucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-mcconkey/i-can-stick-uphill-ice-on-my-saucer/) [Shane McConkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-mcconkey/) > [I am the flying saucer man from another world trapped on yours until they come to rescue me. One day the saucer will land.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-am-the-flying-saucer-man-from-another-world-trapped-on-yours-until/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [Be your own flying saucer! Rescue yourself!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/be-your-own-flying-saucer-rescue-yourself/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [What's that plate that's above a saucer but below a plate?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/what-s-that-plate-that-s-above-a-saucer-but-below-a-plate/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [“The ultimate aim of reality is to become science fiction!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-of-kittim/the-ultimate-aim-of-reality-is-to-become-science-fiction/) [Eli Of Kittim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-of-kittim/) > [“I’m not sure sex qualifies as R and R, but it’s a compromise I can live with.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-morgen/i-m-not-sure-sex-qualifies-as-r-and-r-but-it-s-a-compromise-i-can/) [Shelby Morgen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-morgen/) > [“But eggshells were made to be broken, and slamming into a 100-story skyscraper at the speed of light would likely do the deed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-a-miller/but-eggshells-were-made-to-be-broken-and-slamming-into-a-100-story/) [Maureen A. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-a-miller/) > [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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-einhorn/) > [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/) ## More by Fritz Leiber > [“The “Howard” in the entry had to be Howard Phillips Lovecraft , that twentieth-century puritanic Poe from Providence, with his regrettable but undeniable loathing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/the-howard-in-the-entry-had-to-be-howard-phillips-lovecraft-that/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [A scientist ought to have a healthy disregard for coincidences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/a-scientist-ought-to-have-a-healthy-disregard-for-coincidences/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [What do you care? You always liked loneliness better than you liked people. No offence liking yourself's the beginning of all love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/what-do-you-care-you-always-liked-loneliness-better-than-you-liked/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Traffic growled and snarled, rising at times to a machine-gun rata-tat-tat, while pedestrians were scuttling about with that desperate ratlike urgency characteristic of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/traffic-growled-and-snarled-rising-at-times-to-a-machine-gun-rata-tat/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“Certainly we’ve made important innovations, chief among them the systematic use of the scientific method,” he said at one point, “but the primitive groundwork…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/certainly-we-ve-made-important-innovations-chief-among-them-the/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“Miss Millick wondered just what had happened to Mr. Wran. He kept making the strangest remarks when she took dictation. Just this morning he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/miss-millick-wondered-just-what-had-happened-to-mr-wran-he-kept/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“Of course it had been an hallucination. But when hallucinations start behaving like realities, with a score of coincidences to back them up, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/of-course-it-had-been-an-hallucination-but-when-hallucinations-start/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Devils may be nothing but beings intent on their purpose, which now happens to collide with yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/devils-may-be-nothing-but-beings-intent-on-their-purpose-which-now/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“The Mouser made a very small parry in carte so that the thrust of the bravo from the east went past his left side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/the-mouser-made-a-very-small-parry-in-carte-so-that-the-thrust-of-the/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“It had all begun on the elevated. There was a particular little sea of roots he had grown into the habit of glancing at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/it-had-all-begun-on-the-elevated-there-was-a-particular-little-sea-of/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Better freedom and a chilly road than a warm hearth and servitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/better-freedom-and-a-chilly-road-than-a-warm-hearth-and-servitude/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“Thoughts are dangerous, he told himself, and thoughts against all science, all sanity, all civilized intelligence, are the most dangerous of all. He felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/thoughts-are-dangerous-he-told-himself-and-thoughts-against-all/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [The dark dangerous forest is still there, my friends. Beyond the space of the astronauts and the astronomers, beyond the dark, tangled regions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/the-dark-dangerous-forest-is-still-there-my-friends-beyond-the-space/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Not for the first time Richard reflected that this age's vaunted 'communications industry' had chiefly provided people and nations with the means of frightening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/not-for-the-first-time-richard-reflected-that-this-age-s-vaunted/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [Of course, if you assume a big enough conspiracy, you can explain anything, including the cosmos itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/of-course-if-you-assume-a-big-enough-conspiracy-you-can-explain/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) [Explore all 58 Fritz Leiber quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) ## More Science fiction quotes > [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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-einhorn/) > [“But eggshells were made to be broken, and slamming into a 100-story skyscraper at the speed of light would likely do the deed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-a-miller/but-eggshells-were-made-to-be-broken-and-slamming-into-a-100-story/) [Maureen A. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-a-miller/) > [“I’m not sure sex qualifies as R and R, but it’s a compromise I can live with.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-morgen/i-m-not-sure-sex-qualifies-as-r-and-r-but-it-s-a-compromise-i-can/) [Shelby Morgen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-morgen/) > [“The ultimate aim of reality is to become science fiction!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-of-kittim/the-ultimate-aim-of-reality-is-to-become-science-fiction/) [Eli Of Kittim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-of-kittim/) > [“And so we go.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-j-machale/and-so-we-go/) [D.J. MacHale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-j-machale/) > [“Science fiction and fantasy, though they seem to be about the future or fictional worlds, are always at their core really about the problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-joseph-adams/science-fiction-and-fantasy-though-they-seem-to-be-about-the-future/) [John Joseph Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-joseph-adams/) > [“What we've done is make the categories of science fiction and fantasy larger, freer, and more inclusive than any other genre of contemporary literature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/what-we-ve-done-is-make-the-categories-of-science-fiction-and-fantasy/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [As a result of reading science fiction when I was eight, I grew up with an interest in music, architecture, city planning, transportation, politics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/as-a-result-of-reading-science-fiction-when-i-was-eight-i-grew-up/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [You can tell the date of an old science fiction novel by every word on the page. Nothing dates harder and faster and more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-can-tell-the-date-of-an-old-science-fiction-novel-by-every-word/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-likely-to-disappear-in-a/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [I'd always wanted the show to be more reality based science fiction, something along the lines of The Day the Earth Stood Still, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-gerard/i-d-always-wanted-the-show-to-be-more-reality-based-science-fiction/) [Gil Gerard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-gerard/) > [My briefest ever definition of science fiction is 'Hubris clobbered by Nemesis.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/my-briefest-ever-definition-of-science-fiction-is-hubris-clobbered-by/) [Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/) > [“To love was a privilege not afforded to those of us born in these trying times when survival was never guaranteed. We were products…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-x-chang/to-love-was-a-privilege-not-afforded-to-those-of-us-born-in-these/) [Molly X. Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-x-chang/) > [“Listen: Common sense doesn't mean what it used to mean." -Matthias Chalmers, STAIRWAY2 HEAVEN”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-thompson/listen-common-sense-doesn-t-mean-what-it-used-to-mean-matthias/) [Chaz Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaz-thompson/) [Browse all 2,584 Science fiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Do you think the saucer actually had an inertialess drive—like E. E. Smith's bergenholms or something?” Harry McHeath asked Doc.  “Have to, I'd think, the way it was jumping around. In a situation like this, science fiction is our only guide. 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