“Perhaps it is the positive knowledge that humans now possess the means to destroy their whole planet, the fear that they have in this way themselves become the gods, dreadfully charged with their own continued existence, that has made comic-book and movie myth escapist.”
Writing and Being (1991)
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Nadine Gordimer57
South african Nobel-winning writer 1923–2014Related quotes
Sallustius Roman philosopher and writer
III. Concerning myths; that they are divine, and why.
On the Gods and the Cosmos
Elvis Presley (1935–1977) American singer and actor
Acceptance speech for the 1970 Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation Award (16 January 1971), published in Elvis — Word for Word: What He Said, Exactly As He Said It (1999) by Jerry Osborne, p. 188
Context: I'd like to thank the Jaycees for electing me as one of their outstanding young men. When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books, and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies, and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream I ever dreamed, has come true a hundred times... And these gentlemen over here, these are the type of people who care, they're dedicated, and they realize that it is possible that they might be building the kingdom of heaven, it's not just too far fetched, from reality. I'd like to say that I learned very early in life that "Without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain't got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend — without a song." So I keep singing a song. Goodnight. Thank you.
Sidney Poitier (1927) American-born Bahamian actor, film director, author, and diplomat
Variant: I’ve learned that I must find positive outlets for anger or it will destroy me. There is a certain anger; it reaches such intensity that to express it fully would require homicidal rage — self-destructive, destroy-the-world rage — and its flame burns because the world is so unjust. I have to try to find a way to channel that anger to the positive, and the highest positive is forgiveness.
Source: The Measure of a Man (2000)
Elon Musk (1971) South African-born American entrepreneur
Artificial intelligence: Should we be as terrified as Elon Musk and Bill Gates? http://zdnet.com/article/artificial-intelligence-should-we-be-as-terrified-as-elon-musk-and-bill-gates in ZDNet (20 October 2015)
“In the world of comic books, "troublemaker" means someone who has some sense of dignity.”
Frank Miller (1957) American writer, artist, film director
Source: Eisner/Miller (2005), p. 198
“Possessing these books has become all important to me, because I have become jealous of the past.”
Alberto Manguel (1948) writer
Stealing Books, p. 238.
A History of Reading (1996)
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister
Speech in the House of Commons (24 April 1844), referring to Lord Stanley; compare: "The brilliant chief, irregularly great, / Frank, haughty, rash,—the Rupert of debate!", Edward Bulwer-Lytton, The New Timon (1846), Part i.
1840s