R. A. Lafferty Quotes

75 Sourced Quotes

"Strangers may not lodge complaints till they have been in residence here for ninety days," the Cacique said, "and no stranger has ever remained with us that long."
"My complaint won't hold for ninety days. I accuse you people of eating men."

R. A. Lafferty
Something was working in Roadstrum's little ape head. When he had been a man he had always known when it was time for action; particularly he had always known the last moment when action was still possible. He knew now that that moment was come very near. … Then a blinding light burst upon Roadstrum, and he saw the truth of the situation. Many things Roadstrum was not, and it was sometimes wondered why he was the natural leader of all the men. He was their leader because he was a man on whom the blinding light sometimes descended.

R. A. Lafferty
In this growing there are no really new things or new situation. There are only things growing out right, or things growing out deformed or shriveled. There is nothing new about railways or foundries or lathes or steel furnaces. They also are green-growing things. There is nothing new about organizations of men or of money. All these growing things are good, if they grow towards the final answers that were given in the beginning.

R. A. Lafferty
To you who are scattered and broken, gather again and mend. Rebuild always, and again I say rebuild. Renew the face of the earth. It is a loved face, but now it is covered with the webs of tired spiders.

R. A. Lafferty
They were down on Kentron-Kosmon, an insignificant world. And yet, in the middle of Space-Port there (a cow pasture rather; it wasn't much of a spaceport) there was a nice plaque of electrum and on it was lettered: This is the Exact Center of the Universe.

R. A. Lafferty
This myth filter was necessary. The ship logs could not tell it rightly nor could any flatfooted prose. And the deeds were too bright to be viewed direct. They could only be sung by a bard gone blind from viewing suns that were suns.

R. A. Lafferty
When we travel we find how greatly our boyhood dreams are outstripped by reality.

R. A. Lafferty
If you have come with high expectations of anything, you have come to the wrong place.

R. A. Lafferty
"Oh, I cannot abide these complacent clods," I exclaim. "I cannot relate to these opulent oafs who are laughing in the streets. They are not high enough or low enough. For my love I must find the poor, the deprived, the fornicators, the addicts, the drunkards, the unwashed,..."
"Oh, these are the poor," the clod told me. "This is the poorest street in town, Index Y-Z. It's hard to tell them apart now except that the poor spend more ostentatiously than the rich do."

R. A. Lafferty
"'Monday and Tuesday and Monday and Tuesday and Monday and Tuesday,' so the poor slaves had to sing in their labor for the puca. And finally a great savior broke the charm. 'And Wednesday too' he said, and then it was all over with."
"Roadstrum is the great savior who breaks the charm," Roadstrum announced. "I will set a Wednesday-term to the monster. But there are other elements in this…"

R. A. Lafferty
True love is that we should hate whatever interferes with our vision of the high and the lowly.

R. A. Lafferty
The war was finished. It had lasted ten equivalent years and taken ten million lives. Thus it was neither of long duration nor of serious attrition. It hadn't any great significance; it was not intended to have. It did not prove a point, since all points had long ago been proven. What it did, perhaps, was to emphasize an aspect, sharpen a concept, underline a trend.
On the whole it was a successful operation. Economically and ecologically it was of healthy effect, and who should grumble?
And after wars, men go home. No, no, men start for home. It's not the same.

R. A. Lafferty
Learn the true topography; the monstrous and wonderful archetypes are not inside you, not inside your consciousness; you are inside them, trapped and howling to get out

R. A. Lafferty
Sometimes traveling people will be talking together. They will say how good it is in some places and how bad it is in others. And, sooner or later, one of them is bound to mention it. "Talk about really being out in the boondocks!" he will say, "there's a little planet named Earth —"

R. A. Lafferty
I will never tell anyone how much fun it is in this place.

R. A. Lafferty
I'm the guy who keeps it all going. If I weren't here, you wouldn't be here either. I know it all, I'm a smart-aleck. Loan-sharking and fencing. Any time I can't see you, you've had it.

R. A. Lafferty
"This is the Improbable Club," said the President-Emeritus in a heavy muffled voice, "and you things have made an improbable entry. Many unqualified persons have attempted to crash this Club, but you have done it literally. Whether you will be able to qualify for our high membership is another thing. It will not matter. We accept, for a brief moment at least, all who come here as members. We will quickly measure you one way or another. We have no living ex-members. Sit you down, all, and unwind your ears. Remember, each topper must be topped."

R. A. Lafferty
Though my short stories are the more readable, my novels do have more to say; and they will, if anyone has the patience for it, repay a rereading.

R. A. Lafferty
"Pirates are perhaps the greatest invention of Earth people," Elizabeth interrupted loftily, "and their pirate stories are wonderful entertainment for small children. We have to give Earth people credit for that, they invented pirates."

R. A. Lafferty
Lend ear while things incredible we bring about
And Spacemen dead and deathless yet we sing about:— And some were weak and wan, and some were strong enough,
And some got home, but damn it took them long enough!

R. A. Lafferty
When you can't depend on the Devil, who can you depend on?

R. A. Lafferty
"My brain reels," moaned Homer the man. "Reality melts away."

R. A. Lafferty
Put the nightmare together. If you do not wake up screaming, you have not put it together well.

R. A. Lafferty
"A newspaper man has got to know when to keep his mouth and his mind shut. You might end up dead."
"Isn't that the usual fate of men, Harry?"

R. A. Lafferty
The best time to write a story is yesterday. The next best time is today.

R. A. Lafferty