Ken Liu Quotes

I get to use fiction as a way to work out my thinking and to delight readers in the process. I can't think of any deal that's better for me, and I'm always so grateful that readers have indulged me as I argue with myself in my stories.

Ken Liu

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Quotes to Explore

• We need more people working in the publishing industry itself who are people of colour.

  

  Malorie Blackman
  • People
  • Working
  • Need

• I'm optimistic about people and about the planet and about nature. I think it's resilient, like people are.

  

  Viggo Mortensen
  • People
  • Nature
  • Think

• The irony is that Washington was, in reality, very much like Benedict Arnold. The big difference was that Washington was ultimately able to control his emotions, something Arnold never learned to do.

  

  Nathaniel Philbrick
  • Reality
  • Control
  • Emotions

• Best wine if you're stranded on a deserted island? 1982 Salon Champagne.

  

  Gary Vaynerchuk
  • Best
  • Wine
  • Champagne

• We as women have a voice and we are decision makers in what film to see. We always support our boyfriends and husbands by going to see the male dominated films, but we don't compel them to see films with female casts.

  

  Octavia Spencer
  • Women
  • Support
  • Decision

• Denial of childhood and denial of freedom are the biggest sins which humankind has been committing and perpetuating for ages.

  

  Kailash Satyarthi
  • Freedom
  • Childhood
  • Denial

• You have to realize that up until about 1959, Africa was dominated by the colonial powers. And by the colonial powers of Europe having complete control over Africa, they projected Africa always in a negative light - jungles, savages, cannibals, nothing civilized.

  

  Malcolm X
  • Up
  • Light
  • Control

• There aren't a whole lot of things I want out of life. My bucket list is extremely short: Achieve the success in the industry I want, and get married. If I achieve both of those, I can die completely stoked. I don't need anything else.

  

  Samuel Larsen
  • Life
  • Success
  • Die

• I'm moved by people who see the world differently than others. People who see the world with a longing for its poetry often can be broken people.

  

  Laura Dern
  • People
  • World
  • Poetry

• I am opposed to the military use of animals. I am also opposed to the military use of men.

  

  B. F. Skinner
  • Men
  • Military
  • Animals

• Growing up on the plantation there in Mississippi, I would work Monday through Saturday noon. I'd go to town on Saturday afternoons, sit on the street corner, and I'd sing and play.

  

  B. B. King
  • Up
  • Work
  • Growing

• Salvation for a race, nation or class must come from within.

  

  A. Philip Randolph
  • Race
  • Nation
  • Class

• Jealousy... is a mental cancer.

  

  B. C. Forbes
  • Cancer
  • Jealousy
  • Mental

• My father never forced me, but chemistry was my best subject.

  

  Yusuf Hamied
  • Father
  • Best
  • Chemistry

• 'Muslim' is not a political party. 'Muslim' is not a single culture. Muslims go to war with each other. There are more Muslims in India, Russia and China than in most Muslim-majority nations. 'Muslim' is not a homogenous entity.

  

  Maajid Nawaz
  • War
  • Political
  • Culture

• All paths are the same, leading nowhere. Therefore, pick a path with heart!

  

  Carlos Castaneda
  • Heart
  • Path
  • Same

• I love just walking around New York. It's like a whole world in one place.

  

  Samuel Barnett
  • World
  • Like
  • Place

• My life has become a reality show. When I am home, people are climbing trees with cameras. I feel that my personal space is being encroached upon. I will try and protect it as much as I can.

  

  Ranbir Kapoor
  • People
  • Life
  • Home

• I'm an untrained musician. Untrained musicians don't really have any music theory, they don't have a lot of rules. We break the rules, but it's mostly because we don't know what the rules are. It's easy for us to go to certain places, so I'm not surprised that a lot of people were amused by my songwriting style.

  

  Frank Black
  • People
  • Music
  • Style

• I think I've read all of W.E.B. Du Bois, which is a lot. He started off with comprehensive field work in Philadelphia, publishing a book in 1899 called 'The Philadelphia Negro'. It was this wonderful combination of clear statistical data and ethnographic data.

  

  Matthew Desmond
  • Work
  • Book

• People are so wonderful that a photographer has only to wait for that breathless moment to capture what he wants on film.

  

  Weegee
  • People
  • Moment
  • Wait

• Becoming an author changes your attitude too. Once you see where books come from, and how they're made, they never seem quite as sacred again.

  

  Lev Grossman
  • Attitude
  • Author

• I met Toni, my wife, when we were cast opposite each other in a musical.

  

  Jim Foglesong
  • Wife

• I get to use fiction as a way to work out my thinking and to delight readers in the process. I can't think of any deal that's better for me, and I'm always so grateful that readers have indulged me as I argue with myself in my stories.

  

  Ken Liu
  • Work
  • Thinking