Keep Violence In The Mind

The Fatal Error Of Much Science Fiction Has Been To Subscribe To An Optimism Based On The Idea That Revolution, Or A New Gimmick, Or A Bunch Of Strong Men, Or An Invasion Of Aliens, Or The Conquest Of Other Planets, Or The Annihilation Of Half The World--in Short, Pretty Nearly Anything But The Facing Up To The Integral And Irredeemable Nature Of Mankind--can Bring About Utopian Situations. It Is The Old Error Of The Externalization Of Evil.

Most Sf Is About Madness, Or What Is Currently Ruled To Be Madness; This Is Part Of Its Attraction - It's Always Playing With How Much The Human Mind Can Encompass.

I Have Had Wealth, Rank And Power, But, If These Were All I Had, How Wretched I Should Be.

It's A National Failing To Think Of Politics As Something That Goes On In Parliament. It Isn't; It's Something That Goes On Inside Us.

The Misfortune Of A Young Man Who Returns To His Native Land After Years Away Is That He Finds His Native Land Foreign; Whereas The Lands He Left Behind Remain For Ever Like A Mirage In His Mind. However, Misfortune Can Itself Sow Seeds Of Creativity. ---- Afterword To "hothouse" Brian Aldiss