“From what I’ve read,” I said to him, “the world goes crazy every three or four decades. The trick is to survive until it goes sane again.”

— Octavia E. Butler , book Parable of the Sower

Source: Parable of the Sower (1993), Chapter 19 (p. 229)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "From what I’ve read,” I said to him, “the world goes crazy every three or four decades. The trick is to survive until i…" by Octavia E. Butler?

Octavia E. Butler 107

American science fiction writer 1947–2006

Related quotes

“When I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out”

Joseph Addison (1672–1719) politician, writer and playwright

Thoughts in Westminster Abbey (1711).
Context: When I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow: when I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind.

“In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? Or goes to an American play? or looks at an American picture or statue?”

Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English writer and clergyman

Referring to the lack of established culture and the established institution of slavery in the United States, in "Review of Seybert’s Annals of the United States", published in The Edinburgh Review (1820)
Context: In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? Or goes to an American play? or looks at an American picture or statue? What does the world yet owe to American physicians or surgeons? What new substances have their chemists discovered? Or what old ones have they advanced? What new constellations have been discovered by the telescopes of Americans? Who drinks out of American glasses? Or eats from American plates? Or wears American coats or gowns? or sleeps in American blankets? Finally, under which of the old tyrannical governments of Europe is every sixth man a slave, whom his fellow-creatures may buy and sell and torture?

“The world goes up and the world goes down,
And the sunshine follows the rain;
And yesterday's sneer and yesterday's frown
Can never come over again.”

Charles Kingsley (1819–1875) English clergyman, historian and novelist

Dolcino to Margaret, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Attributed

“Does the cycle that goes, interest in something, involvement in it, tiring of it, and rejection of it, looking into something else, get shorter every decade?”

James Burke (science historian) (1936) British broadcaster, science historian, author, and television producer

Connections (1979), 9 - Countdown

“I thought you were sane," I said, "but you're
just as crazy as the rest of them.”

Charles Bukowski book Love Is a Dog from Hell

Source: Love Is a Dog from Hell

“Goes a long way and a goal! It's him again! Thomas Müller with his tenth World Cup goal in history, to put the Germans ahead!”

Ian Darke (1950) British association football and boxing commentator

Brazil v. Germany (8 July 2014).
2010s, 2014, 2014 FIFA World Cup
Context: Klose, with a corner. Goes a long way and a goal! It's him again! Thomas Müller with his tenth World Cup goal in history, to put the Germans ahead! Well Brazil were behind in their opening game of the tournament against Croatia and came back to win. But, it might be a much harder job. Chasing Germany, of all the players.