--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Science fiction [is] the kind of writing…" description: "\"Science fiction [is] the kind of writing that prepares us for the necessary mutations brought about in society from an ever changing technological worl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7a/walter-mosley-2810_20th-century_science-fiction-is-the-kind-of-writing-t_2215841.jpg" --- # Science fiction \[is\] the kind of writing that prepares us… ![“Science fiction [is] the kind of writing that prepares us for the necessary mutations brought about in society from an ever changing technological world and as a result. The mainstream hasn’t excluded SF; the mainstream has excluded itself. No one told Jules Verne he was a science fiction writer…” quote by Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7a/walter-mosley-2810_20th-century_science-fiction-is-the-kind-of-writing-t_2215841.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7a/walter-mosley-2810_20th-century_science-fiction-is-the-kind-of-writing-t_2215841.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7a/walter-mosley-2810_20th-century_science-fiction-is-the-kind-of-writing-t_2215841.jpg) > “Science fiction \[is\] the kind of writing that prepares us for the necessary mutations brought about in society from an ever changing technological world and as a result. The mainstream hasn’t excluded SF; the mainstream has excluded itself. No one told Jules Verne he was a science fiction writer, but he invented the 20th century.” [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) ## 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 anticipates societal changes caused by technology, shaping our expectations and adaptations. **In simple terms:** SF predicts tech-driven social shifts. Key Takeaway Embrace sci‑fi to envision future possibilities. Themes future technology society imagination change Mood thoughtful inspired cautious Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - policy planning - education curricula - creative brainstorming - technology adoption - urban development Key Concepts speculative fiction cultural foresight innovation Questions to Reflect On - How can we use sci‑fi to actively shape policy? - What responsibilities do creators have in forecasting futures? A Different Perspective SF may oversimplify complex issues or inspire passive consumption. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [20th century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/20th-century/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-kind-404118/) [Fiction writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-writer/) [Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jules-verne/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Mainstream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mainstream/) [Mutation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mutation/) [Results](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/results/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) [Sf Mainstream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sf-mainstream-4924948/) [Technological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technological/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [There are trappings of science fiction which I kind of embrace, but there are also cliches which I run from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-twohy/there-are-trappings-of-science-fiction-which-i-kind-of-embrace-but/) [David Twohy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-twohy/) > [Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes, Literature answers. Are people good or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/fiction-is-a-kind-of-compassion-generating-machine-that-saves-us-from-2/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I can be very snobby about fiction, especially contemporary fiction. I can be kind of overly demanding, I think. But this is, I think,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annette-bening/i-can-be-very-snobby-about-fiction-especially-contemporary-fiction-i/) [Annette Bening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annette-bening/) > [“I need fiction, I am an addict. This is not a figure of speech. I don’t quite read a novel a day, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-spufford/i-need-fiction-i-am-an-addict-this-is-not-a-figure-of-speech-i-don-t/) [Francis Spufford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-spufford/) > [“Fiction is most effective when its themes are unspoken. An ideal fiction has a kind of thematic ghostliness, whereby the novel marks its meanings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood/fiction-is-most-effective-when-its-themes-are-unspoken-an-ideal/) [James Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wood/) > [Fiction to me is a kind of parable. You have got to make up your mind it's not true. Some kind of truth emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/fiction-to-me-is-a-kind-of-parable-you-have-got-to-make-up-your-mind/) [Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/) > [Even when I think of writing fiction, it's being kind of a liar, a storyteller, a weaver, and there's that sense of how much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwidge-danticat/even-when-i-think-of-writing-fiction-it-s-being-kind-of-a-liar-a/) [Edwidge Danticat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwidge-danticat/) > [Science fiction is a kind of archaeology of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/science-fiction-is-a-kind-of-archaeology-of-the-future/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [“Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes, Literature answers. Are people good or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/fiction-is-a-kind-of-compassion-generating-machine-that-saves-us-from/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“The trouble with mimetic fiction isn’t that you can tell what’s going to happen (I defy anyone to guess what’s going to happen in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-walton/the-trouble-with-mimetic-fiction-isn-t-that-you-can-tell-what-s-going/) [Jo Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-walton/) > [“Let us say that science fiction is a kind of conceptual disorientation of the familiar.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-roberts/let-us-say-that-science-fiction-is-a-kind-of-conceptual/) [Adam Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-roberts/) > [Once you get that instinct for the fictiveness, the fictionality of fiction, it kind of sets you free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/once-you-get-that-instinct-for-the-fictiveness-the-fictionality-of/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I think, for sure, 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Pulp Fiction' were kind of bookends for - or the pillars of - my career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-travolta/i-think-for-sure-saturday-night-fever-and-pulp-fiction-were-kind-of/) [John Travolta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-travolta/) > [I'm given a lot of credit with opening the doors for Christian fiction. It was kind of a difficult field when I got into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-peretti/i-m-given-a-lot-of-credit-with-opening-the-doors-for-christian/) [Frank Peretti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-peretti/) > [If you think of a work of fiction as a kind of scale model of the world, then the positive valences - where things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/if-you-think-of-a-work-of-fiction-as-a-kind-of-scale-model-of-the/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## More by Walter Mosley > [“It’s a continual revelation when you come to understand that the only thing you can expect in return for your own dignity is hatred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/it-s-a-continual-revelation-when-you-come-to-understand-that-the-only/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [I think that it's important to try to keep reality. I think that Gabriel Garcia Marquez speaks a lot about reality in his magical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/i-think-that-it-s-important-to-try-to-keep-reality-i-think-that/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [There's many things that I am. And all of those things come together at some point. If somebody wants to limit me, you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/there-s-many-things-that-i-am-and-all-of-those-things-come-together/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [I'm almost completely without family and it's a very odd feeling in life. I have no children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/i-m-almost-completely-without-family-and-it-s-a-very-odd-feeling-in/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [“I find books in used-book stores, chain and independent stores, on friends’ shelves and being read by some woman sitting opposite me on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/i-find-books-in-used-book-stores-chain-and-independent-stores-on/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [“That was why so many Jews back then understood the American Negro; in Europe the Jew had been a Negro for more than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/that-was-why-so-many-jews-back-then-understood-the-american-negro-in/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [“If there's another writer, like Ross McDonald or Raymond Chandler, and all they're writing are mysteries, they won't be accepted," he said. "And that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/if-there-s-another-writer-like-ross-mcdonald-or-raymond-chandler-and/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [Losing my parents really set me adrift in more ways than one. It's not just losing them. It's losing the possibility of family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/losing-my-parents-really-set-me-adrift-in-more-ways-than-one-it-s-not/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [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/) > [I believe that a writer has to tell what they think is the truth in a human experience. The truth of the human experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/i-believe-that-a-writer-has-to-tell-what-they-think-is-the-truth-in-a/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [I laugh, that there's a certain kind of cyclical nature to life and that I don't have to worry because whatever isn't there right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/i-laugh-that-there-s-a-certain-kind-of-cyclical-nature-to-life-and/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [When I turned 59, I looked at that as the first day of my 60th year, so I've been 60 for the last 365…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/when-i-turned-59-i-looked-at-that-as-the-first-day-of-my-60th-year-so/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [“The government isn't real," he replied. He might have been talking about Santa Claus or God. "I don't owe anything to anyone who in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/the-government-isn-t-real-he-replied-he-might-have-been-talking-about/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [Susan Straight finds LA's secret heart in Between Heaven and Here and with a sleight of hand only the masters have, she creates an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/susan-straight-finds-la-s-secret-heart-in-between-heaven-and-here-and/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [“Damn, Easy,” the intrepid sideman said. “Trouble got your name tattooed on the inside’a his eyelids. He be studyin’ you in his sleep.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/damn-easy-the-intrepid-sideman-said-trouble-got-your-name-tattooed-on/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) [Explore all 149 Walter Mosley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) ## More 20th century quotes > [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/) [Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/) > [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/america-thrived-in-the-20th-century-because-we-made-high-school-free/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/) [Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [I've studied the lives of the 20th century's great businessmen and concluded self-confidence was instrumental in all their success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-spanos/i-ve-studied-the-lives-of-the-20th-century-s-great-businessmen-and/) [Alex Spanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-spanos/) > [Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/) [Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/) > [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/) [Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/) [David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/) > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) [Browse all 672 20th century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/20th-century/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Science fiction [is] the kind of writing that prepares us for the necessary mutations brought about in society from an ever changing technological world and as a result. 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