--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Science fiction writers, I am sorry to…" description: "\"Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can't talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unoffi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d9/philip-k-dick-502_science_science-fiction-writers-i-am-sorry-to-sa_2222710.jpg" --- # Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not… ![“Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can't talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful.” quote by Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d9/philip-k-dick-502_science_science-fiction-writers-i-am-sorry-to-sa_2222710.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d9/philip-k-dick-502_science_science-fiction-writers-i-am-sorry-to-sa_2222710.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d9/philip-k-dick-502_science_science-fiction-writers-i-am-sorry-to-sa_2222710.jpg) > “Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can't talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful.” [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) ## 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 authors often lack solid scientific knowledge, leading to poor realism in their stories. **In simple terms:** SF writers sometimes ignore real science. Key Takeaway Ground fiction in credible science. Themes science fiction knowledge critique Mood critical inquisitive Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - educational curricula - publishing Key Concepts epistemology creative limits Questions to Reflect On - Should fiction prioritize truth or imagination? - How can writers improve scientific literacy? A Different Perspective Creative freedom can outweigh strict accuracy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-writers/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/science-fiction-writers-i-am-sorry-to-say-really-do-not-know-anything/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [But I quite like the way you can talk about science without necessarily using mathematics, but using metaphors instead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/but-i-quite-like-the-way-you-can-talk-about-science-without/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [I can't lie and say there are no bad writers. Sorry, but there are lots of bad writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-can-t-lie-and-say-there-are-no-bad-writers-sorry-but-there-are-lots/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I'm not afraid to talk about the science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-braun/i-m-not-afraid-to-talk-about-the-science/) [Mike Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-braun/) > [Talk about science with everyone you meet. Especially talk about climate change. It needs to become a part of our everyday conversation (the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/talk-about-science-with-everyone-you-meet-especially-talk-about/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [“And no matter how much I want to encourage the man or woman trying for the first time to write seriously, I can’t lie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/and-no-matter-how-much-i-want-to-encourage-the-man-or-woman-trying/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I've always loved science fiction. I think the smartest writers are science fiction writers dealing with major things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/i-ve-always-loved-science-fiction-i-think-the-smartest-writers-are/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [Science fiction writers missed the most salient feature of our modern era: the Internet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-mcdevitt/science-fiction-writers-missed-the-most-salient-feature-of-our-modern/) [Jack McDevitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-mcdevitt/) > [Technically and logically speaking, actual Victorian science fiction writers cannot be dubbed 'steampunks.' Although they utilized many of the same tropes and touchstones employed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-di-filippo/technically-and-logically-speaking-actual-victorian-science-fiction/) [Paul Di Filippo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-di-filippo/) > [Science fiction writers put characters into a world with arbitrary rules and work out what happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-rucker/science-fiction-writers-put-characters-into-a-world-with-arbitrary/) [Rudy Rucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-rucker/) > [“I think Dr. Willis McNelly at the California State University at Fullerton put it best when he said that the true protagonist of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/i-think-dr-willis-mcnelly-at-the-california-state-university-at/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [ A couple of hundred years from now, maybe \[science fiction writers\] Isaac Asimov and Fred Pohl will be considered the important philosophers of the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-minsky/a-couple-of-hundred-years-from-now-maybe-science-fiction-writers/) [Marvin Minsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-minsky/) > [I was hardly fit for human society. Thus destiny shaped me to be a science fiction writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/i-was-hardly-fit-for-human-society-thus-destiny-shaped-me-to-be-a/) [Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/) > [I love science fiction. I always have, ever since I was a kid. I love a lot of science fiction writers. William Gibson is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahmoh-penikett/i-love-science-fiction-i-always-have-ever-since-i-was-a-kid-i-love-a/) [Tahmoh Penikett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahmoh-penikett/) > [Science is the knowledge of constant things, not merely of passing events, and is properly less the knowledge of general laws than of existing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/science-is-the-knowledge-of-constant-things-not-merely-of-passing/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) ## More by Philip K. Dick > [So we and our elaborately evolving computers may meet each other halfway. Someday a human being, named perhaps Fred White, may shoot a robot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/so-we-and-our-elaborately-evolving-computers-may-meet-each-other/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [Even if all life on our planet is destroyed, there must be other life somewhere which we know nothing of. It is impossible that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/even-if-all-life-on-our-planet-is-destroyed-there-must-be-other-life/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“That is not how you do it; you do not solve one problem with another, greater problem.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/that-is-not-how-you-do-it-you-do-not-solve-one-problem-with-another/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [For each person there is a sentence—a series of words—which has the power to destroy them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/for-each-person-there-is-a-sentence-a-series-of-words-which-has-the/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [I want to write about people I love, and put them into a fictional world spun out of my own mind, not the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/i-want-to-write-about-people-i-love-and-put-them-into-a-fictional/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [Why does a man cry? he wondered. Not like a woman; not for that. Not for sentiment. A man cries over the loss of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/why-does-a-man-cry-he-wondered-not-like-a-woman-not-for-that-not-for/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [The day came. The wrath descended. Sin, guilt, and retribution? The manic psychoses of those entities we referred to as states, institutions, systems -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/the-day-came-the-wrath-descended-sin-guilt-and-retribution-the-manic/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [The church of my choice is the free, open world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/the-church-of-my-choice-is-the-free-open-world/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“I see,' Rick said. He felt numb. Completely. Throughout his entire body.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/i-see-rick-said-he-felt-numb-completely-throughout-his-entire-body/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“What is identity? he asked himself. Where does the act end? Nobody knows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/what-is-identity-he-asked-himself-where-does-the-act-end-nobody-knows/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [You're killing yourself with cynicism. Your idols got taken away from you one by one and now you have nothing to give your love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/you-re-killing-yourself-with-cynicism-your-idols-got-taken-away-from/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [What scared me the most was when my father would put on the gasmask. His face would disappear... This was not a human being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/what-scared-me-the-most-was-when-my-father-would-put-on-the-gasmask/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“A man is an angel that has become deranged, Joe Fernwright thought. Once they – all of them – had been genuine angels, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/a-man-is-an-angel-that-has-become-deranged-joe-fernwright-thought/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“When do I see a photograph, when a reflection?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/when-do-i-see-a-photograph-when-a-reflection/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [My major preoccupation is the question, 'What is reality?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/my-major-preoccupation-is-the-question-what-is-reality/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) [Explore all 489 Philip K. Dick quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) ## 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": "Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can't talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Philip K. 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