“Science fiction … means what we point to when we say it.”

— Damon Knight

[In Search of Wonder: Essays on Modern Science Fiction, 1956, Advent Publishers, page 1, ISBN 0911682074]

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Damon Knight 9

American science fiction writer, editor and critic 1922–2002

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Context: What do we mean when we say that first of all we seek liberty? I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it… What is this liberty that must lie in the hearts of men and women? It is not the ruthless, the unbridled will; it is not the freedom to do as one likes. That is the denial of liberty and leads straight to its overthrow. A society in which men recognize no check on their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few — as we have learned to our sorrow.
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“Science fiction … means what we point to when we say it.”

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Damon Knight 9

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