Ray Bradbury's Quotes

All of my writing is God-given.

All of us, no matter how we look born into this world, feel something like the Hunchback. It doesn't matter if you have a beautiful face or not.

Facts are not interesting to me.

I don't believe in colleges and universities.

I don't see myself as a philosopher. That's awfully boring.

I don't tell anyone how to write and no one tells me.

I felt a bit bookish, cut off from life.

I have total recall. I remember being born. I remember being in the womb, I remember being inside. Coming out was great.

I love all of the arts. I love motion pictures. I love stage. I love theater.

I think the reason my stories have been so successful is that I have a strong sense of metaphor.

If you're living in your time, you cannot help but to write about the things that are important.

Journalism keeps you planted in the earth.

Libraries raised me.

Most of my short stories are fantasy.

My goal is to entertain myself and others.

Once the automobile appeared you could have predicted that it would destroy as many people as it did.

The first stories I wrote when I was 12 were about Mars and landing on Mars.

We're all dreamers.

When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money.

When you're older you want to learn from other people.

You don't have to turn on the TV set. You don't have to work on the Internet. It's up to you.

You don't read in your own field. You read in that field when you're young, so that you can learn.

My religion encompasses all religions. I believe in God, I believe in the universe. I believe you are god, I believe I am god; I believe the earth is god and the universe is god. We're all god.

Science fiction is any idea that occurs in the head and doesn't exist yet, but soon will, and will change everything for everybody, and nothing will ever be the same again. As soon as you have an idea that changes some small part of the world you are writing science fiction. It is always the art of the possible, never the impossible.

If you know how to read, you have a complete education about life, then you know how to vote within a democracy. But if you don't know how to read, you don't know how to decide. That's the great thing about our country - we're a democracy of readers, and we should keep it that way.

My personal telephone book is a book of the dead now. I'm so old. Almost all of my friends have died, and I don't have the guts to take their names out of the book.

I used to take my short stories to girls' homes and read them to them. Can you imagine the reaction reading a short story to a girl instead of pawing her?

The major networks, the cable networks, they're being prosecutors. They're judges and jurors and executioners. Well, c'mon, that's ridiculous. But they're doing it.

If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.

Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.

I spent three days a week for 10 years educating myself in the public library, and it's better than college. People should educate themselves - you can get a complete education for no money. At the end of 10 years, I had read every book in the library and I'd written a thousand stories.

Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things.

There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.

I know you've heard it a thousand times before. But it's true - hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don't love something, then don't do it.

We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.

Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine. The landmine is me. After the explosion, I spent the rest of the day putting the pieces together.

Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall.

Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down.

You fail only if you stop writing.

If you enjoy living, it is not difficult to keep the sense of wonder.

You've got to jump off cliffs and build your wings on the way down.

The best scientist is open to experience and begins with romance - the idea that anything is possible.

If you dream the proper dreams, and share the myths with people, they will want to grow up to be like you.

I hate all politics. I don't like either political party. One should not belong to them - one should be an individual, standing in the middle. Anyone that belongs to a party stops thinking.

Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.

I don't try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.

If you don't like what you're doing, then don't do it.

Touch a scientist and you touch a child.

You can't try to do things; you simply must do them.

If someone offers you a breath mint, accept it.

We're constantly striving for success, fame and comfort when all we really need to be happy is someone or some thing to be enthusiastic about.

When you have nothing important or interesting to say, don't let anyone persuade you to say it.

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

Marrying an old bachelor is like buying second-hand furniture.

You either make dust or eat dust.

You must take action now that will move you towards your goals. Develop a sense of urgency in your life.

In business or in life, don't follow the wagon tracks too closely.

Luck marches with those who give their very best.

You can always tell when a man's well informed. His views are pretty much like your own.

Oh, the difference between nearly right and exactly right.

You can't hire someone to practice for you.

Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.

Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness.

Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.

Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own.

Choose your life's mate carefully. From this one decision will come 90 percent of all your happiness or misery.

Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends.

Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.

Always kiss your children goodnight, even if they're already asleep.

Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others.

Good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people's bad manners.