Brian W. Aldiss: Trending quotes (page 5)

“Frank II had been back in the aptly named Mother Country for only a few months when a lady of his acquaintance presented him with Frank IV. Frank IV was a girl, christened Berenice. The state of coma which had ensnared Frank II for so long did not afflict Berenice, or any other of his descendants.
Another tremendous adjustment in the shared consciousness had to be made. That also had its compensations; Frank was the first man ever really to appreciate the woman's point of view.”

Brian W. Aldiss

Let's Be Frank (1957)

Girl , Affliction , Country

“The ability to change should not be despised.”

Brian W. Aldiss

“Basis for Negotiations” p. 139
Short fiction, Who Can Replace a Man? (1965)

Change

“What were several fewer species of animals compared with a hundred-mile advance and another medal on another general?”

Brian W. Aldiss book Greybeard

Source: Greybeard (1964), Chapter 4 “Washington” (p. 110)

Animals

“He had the settled expression of a certain kind of peasant—the kind that accepts, with protest but without malice, the vagaries of life. It is the gift life sends to compensate for the lack of a high I. Q.”

Brian W. Aldiss

“Man on Bridge” pp. 90-91
Short fiction, Who Can Replace a Man? (1965)

Life

“It’s the duty of men in office not to be misled.”

Brian W. Aldiss

“Basis for Negotiations” p. 140
Short fiction, Who Can Replace a Man? (1965)

Men

“I kill from conviction, not to pass a personality quiz.”

Brian W. Aldiss

“Basis for Negotiations” p. 143
Short fiction, Who Can Replace a Man? (1965)

Personality

“Whatever creativity is, it is in part a solution to a problem.”

Brian W. Aldiss

"Apéritif" in Bury My Heart at W.H. Smith's (1990)

Problem , Parting

“Sounds to me as if you want journalists,” Timberlane said.
“No, sir, we require steady men with integrity. This is not a scoop, it’s a way of life.”

Brian W. Aldiss book Greybeard

Source: Greybeard (1964), Chapter 4 (p. 115)

Life , Men , Way

“All over the world there must be far-reaching changes in animal behavior and habitat; if only one could have another life in which to chart it all…. Ah, well, that’s not a fruitful thing to wish, is it?”

Brian W. Aldiss book Greybeard

Source: Greybeard (1964), Chapter 5 “The River: Oxford” (p. 147)

Life , World , Behavior , Change

“If more people had put their fellow human beings before abstractions last century, we shouldn’t be where we are now.”

Brian W. Aldiss book Greybeard

Source: Greybeard (1964), Chapter 7 “The River: The End” (p. 190)

People

“Keep violence in the mind where it belongs.”

Brian W. Aldiss

Barefoot in the Head (1969)

“If we can see our difficulties, there is a way of resolving them, or the hope of a way.”

Brian W. Aldiss

The Glass Forest (1986)

Hope , Way

“Insane? To disobey a law of the universe was impossible, not insane.”

Brian W. Aldiss

“Man in His Time” p. 201 (originally published in Science Fantasy, April 1965)
Short fiction, Who Can Replace a Man? (1965)

Law , Universe

“Most of my poetry lies beyond the SF field, yet here I am corralled into 'SF poetry' as part of this poetry weekend. Of course, some might say, 'you've made your own bed — now you must lie in it!' But, while fully accepting that dictum, I'm not yet quite prepared to lie down…”

Brian W. Aldiss

As quoted in web article "The Brian Aldiss Connection" http://www.zone-sf.com/brianaldiss.html, The Zone

Lie , Parting

“They came, by what means he did not know, from outside, the vast abstraction that none of them had ever seen. He had a mental picture of a starry void in which men and monsters swam or battled, and then swiftly erased it. Such ideas did not conform with the quiet behavior of his companions; if they never spoke about outside, did they think about it?”

Brian W. Aldiss book Outside

Outside (1955)

Men , Behavior , Idea , Thinking

“Did the others here feel the disquiet he felt? Had they a reason for concealing that disquiet? And another question:
Where was "here"?
He shut that one down sharply.
Deal with one thing at a time. Grope your way gently to the abyss. Categorize your knowledge.”

Brian W. Aldiss book Outside

Outside (1955)

Way , Feeling , Question , Knowledge

“You know that if you had been in charge of creation you would have found some medium less heart-breaking than Time to stage it in.”

Brian W. Aldiss

“Poor Little Warrior!” p. 79
Short fiction, Who Can Replace a Man? (1965)

Time , Heart

“I'm lucky that SFWA has such a short memory. I was always the Young Turk, the gadfly. Part of the New Wave, although I didn't fit in there either! I spent years, and two histories, putting the so-called Old Guard in their place, and now I'm one of them!”

Brian W. Aldiss

Locus interview (2000)

History , Memory , Parting

“The shuffle only demonstrated people’s fatuous belief in a political cure for a human condition.”

Brian W. Aldiss book Greybeard

Source: Greybeard (1964), Chapter 6 “London” (p. 170)

People

“Full of years, Sir Frank's body died. The diphtheria which carried him off caused him as much suffering as it would have done an ordinary man; dying was not eased by his unique gift. He slid out into the long darkness — but his consciousness continued unabated in eight other bodies.”

Brian W. Aldiss

Let's Be Frank (1957)

Suffering