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Alfred Bester Quotes

Alfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books. He is best remembered for his science fiction, including The Demolished Man, winner of the inaugural Hugo Award in 1953.

Science fiction author Harry Harrison wrote, "Alfred Bester was one of the handful of writers who invented modern science fiction."Shortly before his death, the Science Fiction Writers of America named Bester its ninth Grand Master, presented posthumously in 1988.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 2001. Wikipedia  

✵ 18. December 1913 – 30. September 1987

Works
The Stars My Destination
Alfred Bester
The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man
Alfred Bester
Alfred Bester: 18   quotes 2   likes

Famous Alfred Bester Quotes

“Gully Foyle is my name
And Terra is my nation.
Deep space is my dwelling place,
The stars my destination.”

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

Source: The Stars My Destination

“The whole point of extravagance is to act like a fool and feel like a fool, but enjoy it.”

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

Source: The Stars My Destination

“Eight, sir; seven, sir;
Six, sir; five, sir;
Four, sir; Three, sir;
Two, sir; one!
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tension, apprehension,
And dissension have begun.”

Alfred Bester book The Demolished Man

Source: The Demolished Man

“Be grateful that you only see the outward man. Be grateful that you never see the passions, the hatreds, the jealousies, the malice, the sicknesses… Be grateful you rarely see the frightening truth in people.”

Alfred Bester book The Demolished Man

Source: The Demolished Man

“Yes, no matter how we defend ourselves against the outside we’re always licked by something from the inside. There’s no defense against betrayal, and we all betray ourselves.”

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

Source: The Stars My Destination (1956), Chapter 12 (p. 188).

“Faith in faith' he answered himself. 'It isn't necessary to have something to believe in. It's only necessary to believe that somewhere there's something worthy of belief.”

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

Source: The Stars My Destination

Alfred Bester Quotes about men

“Wait,” Foyle commanded. He looked at the beaming grin engraved in the steel robot face. “But society can be so stupid. So confused. You’ve witnessed this conference.”
“Yes, sir, but you must teach, not dictate. You must teach society.”
“To space-jaunte? Why? Why reach out to the stars and galaxies? What for?”
“Because you’re alive, sir. You might as well ask: Why is life? Don’t ask about it. Live it.”
“Quite mad,” Dagenham muttered.
“But fascinating,” Y’ang-Yeovil murmured.
“There’s got to be more to life than just living,” Foyle said to the robot.
“Then find it for yourself, sir. Don’t ask the world to stop moving because you have doubts.”
“Why can’t we all move forward together?”
“Because you’re all different. You’re not lemmings. Some must lead, and hope that the rest will follow.”
“Who leads?”
“The men who must … driven men, compelled men.”
“Freak men.”
“You’re all freaks, sir. But you always have been freaks. Life is a freak. That’s its hope and glory.”
“Thank you very much.”

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

“My pleasure, sir.”
Source: The Stars My Destination (1956), Chapter 16 (p. 251).

“Now, these men weren’t idiots. They were geniuses who paid a high price for their genius because the rest of their thinking was other-world. A genius is someone who travels to truth by an unexpected path. Unfortunately, unexpected paths lead to disaster in everyday life.”

Alfred Bester book The Men Who Murdered Mohammed

in Hartwell ed. The World Treasury of Science Fiction, p. 268 (originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October 1958)
The Men Who Murdered Mohammed (1958)

““Neither of us is very trustworthy, eh?”
“Pfutz!” Reich said emphatically. “We don’t play girl’s rules. We play for keeps, both of us. It’s the cowards and weaklings and sore-losers who hide behind rules and fair play.”
“What about honor and ethics?”
“We’ve got honor in us, but it’s our own code… not the make-believe rules some frightened little man wrote for the rest of the frightened little men. Every man’s got his own honor and ethics, and so long as he sticks to ’em, who’s anybody else to point the finger? You may not like his ethics, but you've no right to call him unethical.””

Alfred Bester book The Demolished Man

Source: The Demolished Man (1953), Chapter 6 (p. 84).

Alfred Bester Quotes

“Millions for defense, but not one cent for survival.”

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

Variant: Millions for nonsense, but not one cent for entropy.
Source: The Stars My Destination (1956), Chapter 16 (p. 253).

“The mind is the reality. You are what you think.”

Alfred Bester book The Demolished Man

Source: The Demolished Man (1953), Chapter 2 (p. 28).

Thinking , Reality

“He awoke. He was alive. He wasted no time on prayer or thanks but continued the business of survival.”

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

Source: The Stars My Destination (1956), Chapter 1 (p. 19).

Business , Time

“Powell repressed the wave of exasperation that rose up in him. It was not exasperation with Chooka. It was anger for the relentless force of evolution that insisted on endowing man with increased powers without removing the vestigial vices that prevented him from using them.”

Alfred Bester book The Demolished Man

Source: The Demolished Man (1953), Chapter 9 (p. 114).

Anger

“The man who gives his own decisions priority over society is a criminal.”

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

Source: The Stars My Destination (1956), Chapter 14 (p. 221).

Decision

“We always do what’s natural, only sometimes we shouldn’t do it.”

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

Source: The Stars My Destination (1956), Chapter 6 (p. 98).

Nature

“That’s me,” he said, motioning to the robot. “That’s all of us. We prattle about free will, but we’re nothing but response…mechanical reaction in prescribed grooves.”

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

Source: The Stars My Destination (1956), Chapter 16 (p. 247).

““Damn you!" Dagenham raged, “Don’t you realize that you can’t trust people? They don’t know enough for their own good.”
“Then let them learn or die. We’re all in this together. Let’s live or die together.””

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

Source: The Stars My Destination (1956), Chapter 16 (pp. 254-255).

People , Learning , Rage

“Revenge is for dreams…never for reality.”

Alfred Bester book The Stars My Destination

Source: The Stars My Destination (1956), Chapter 12 (p. 194).

Dreams , Revenge , Reality

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