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J G Ballard Quotes

The Enlightenment view of mankind is a complete myth. It leads us into thinking we’re sane and rational creatures most of the time, and we’re not Picture Quote #1

Psychiatrists the dominant lay priesthood since the First World War Picture Quote #1

A general rule: if enough people predict something, it won’t happen Picture Quote #1

Fiction is a branch of neurology Picture Quote #1

Of course, from one point of view the unhappy events of our own century might be regarded as, say, demonstration ballets on the theme ‘Hydrocarbon Synthesis’ with strong audience participation Picture Quote #1

I’ve decided to recast myself as Utopian. I like this landscape of the M25 and Heathrow. I like airfreight offices and rent-a-car bureaus. I like dual carriageways. When I see a CCTV camera, I know I’m safe Picture Quote #1

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A car crash harnesses elements of eroticism, aggression, desire, speed, drama, kinesthetic factors, the stylizing of motion, consumer goods, status -- all these in one event. I myself see the car crash as a tremendous sexual event really: a liberation of human and machine libido (if there is such a thing) Picture Quote #1

Boredom is a fearsome prospect. There’s a limit to the number of cars and microwaves you can buy. What do you do then? Picture Quote #1

Orwell’s 1984’ convinced me, rightly or wrongly, that Marxism was only a quantum leap away from tyranny. By contrast, Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ suggested that the totalitarian systems of the future might be subservient and ingratiating Picture Quote #1

Fiction is a branch of neurology: the scenarios of nerve and blood vessels are the written mythologies of memory and desire Picture Quote #1

Selfish men make the best lovers. They’re prepared to invest in the women’s pleasures so that they can collect an even bigger dividend for themselves Picture Quote #1

My father worked, and my mother played bridge. Every time I went out of the house, I was chauffeur-driven with my nanny next to me to stop me being kidnapped Picture Quote #1

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Most writers flinch at the thought of being completely honest about themselves. So absolute honesty is what marks the true modern Picture Quote #1

The trouble with you people is that you’ve been here for thirty million years and your perspectives are all wrong. You miss so much of the transitory beauty of life Picture Quote #1

My room is dominated by the huge painting, which is a copy of ‘The Violation’ by the Belgian surrealist Paul Delvaux. The original was destroyed during the Blitz in 1940, and I commissioned an artist I know, Brigid Marlin, to make a copy from a photograph. I never stop looking at this painting and its mysterious and beautiful women Picture Quote #1

It’s true that I have very little idea what I shall be writing next, but at the same time I have a powerful premonition of everything that lies ahead of me, even ten years ahead Picture Quote #1

I work for three or four hours a day, in the late morning and early afternoon. Then I go out for a walk and come back in time for a large gin and tonic Picture Quote #1

Most English writers are not interested in change but in the social novel. That demands a static backdrop. I’m intensely interested in change - probably as a matter of self-preservation. What the hell is going to happen next? Picture Quote #1

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I thought it was a wonderfully conceptual act actually, to fire a replica pistol at a figurehead - the guy could have been working for Andy Warhol! Picture Quote #1

Medicine was certainly intended to be a career. I wanted to become a psychiatrist, an adolescent ambition which, of course, is fulfilled by many psychiatrists. The doctor/psychiatrist figures in my writing are alter egos of a kind, what I would have been had I not become a writer - a personal fantasy that I’ve fed into my fiction Picture Quote #1

To my child’s eyes, which had seen nothing else, Shanghai was a waking dream where everything I could imagine had already been taken to its extreme Picture Quote #1

I believe that if it were possible to scrap the whole of existing literature, all writers would find themselves inevitably producing something very close to SF ... No other form of fiction has the vocabulary of ideas and images to deal with the present, let alone the future Picture Quote #1

During the 1960s, the Shanghai of my childhood seemed a portent of the media cities of the future, dominated by advertising and mass circulation newspapers and swept by unpredictable violence Picture Quote #1

I would love to have been a painter in the tradition of the surrealist painters who I admire so much Picture Quote #1

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If you’re against globalisation, it doesn’t achieve much by sort of bombing the head offices of Shell or Nestle. You unsettle people much more by blowing up an Oxfam shop because people can’t understand the motive Picture Quote #1

The surrealists, and the modern movement in painting as a whole, seemed to offer a key to the strange postwar world with its threat of nuclear war. The dislocations and ambiguities, in cubism and abstract art as well as the surrealists, reminded me of my childhood in Shanghai Picture Quote #1

Put a higher value on yourself. Being hyper-realistic about everything is too simple a get-out Picture Quote #1

It is difficult to remember just how formal middle-class life was in the 1930’s and 40s. I wore a suit and tie at home from the age of 18. One dressed for breakfast. One lived in a very formal way, and emotions were not paraded. And my childhood was not unusual Picture Quote #1

By the eighteenth book, one has a sense of having bricked oneself into a niche, a roosting place for other people’s pigeons. I wouldn’t recommend it Picture Quote #1

I felt the pressure of imagination against the doors of my mind was so great that they were going to burst Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

The Enlightenment view of mankind is a complete myth. It leads us into thinking we’re sane and rational creatures most of the time, and we’re not (J G Ballard Quotes) Psychiatrists the dominant lay priesthood since the First World War (J G Ballard Quotes) A general rule: if enough people predict something, it won’t happen (J G Ballard Quotes) Fiction is a branch of neurology (J G Ballard Quotes) Of course, from one point of view the unhappy events of our own century might be regarded as, say, demonstration ballets on the theme ‘Hydrocarbon Synthesis’ with strong audience participation. (J G Ballard Quotes) I’ve decided to recast myself as Utopian. I like this landscape of the M25 and Heathrow. I like airfreight offices and rent-a-car bureaus. I like dual carriageways. When I see a CCTV camera, I know I’m safe. (J G Ballard Quotes) A car crash harnesses elements of eroticism, aggression, desire, speed, drama, kinesthetic factors, the stylizing of motion, consumer goods, status -- all these in one event. I myself see the car crash as a tremendous sexual event really: a liberation of human and machine libido (if there is such a thing). (J G Ballard Quotes) Boredom is a fearsome prospect. There’s a limit to the number of cars and microwaves you can buy. What do you do then? (J G Ballard Quotes) Orwell’s 1984’ convinced me, rightly or wrongly, that Marxism was only a quantum leap away from tyranny. By contrast, Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ suggested that the totalitarian systems of the future might be subservient and ingratiating. (J G Ballard Quotes) Fiction is a branch of neurology: the scenarios of nerve and blood vessels are the written mythologies of memory and desire. (J G Ballard Quotes) Selfish men make the best lovers. They’re prepared to invest in the women’s pleasures so that they can collect an even bigger dividend for themselves. (J G Ballard Quotes) My father worked, and my mother played bridge. Every time I went out of the house, I was chauffeur-driven with my nanny next to me to stop me being kidnapped. (J G Ballard Quotes) Most writers flinch at the thought of being completely honest about themselves. So absolute honesty is what marks the true modern. (J G Ballard Quotes) The trouble with you people is that you’ve been here for thirty million years and your perspectives are all wrong. You miss so much of the transitory beauty of life. (J G Ballard Quotes) My room is dominated by the huge painting, which is a copy of ‘The Violation’ by the Belgian surrealist Paul Delvaux. The original was destroyed during the Blitz in 1940, and I commissioned an artist I know, Brigid Marlin, to make a copy from a photograph. I never stop looking at this painting and its mysterious and beautiful women. (J G Ballard Quotes) It’s true that I have very little idea what I shall be writing next, but at the same time I have a powerful premonition of everything that lies ahead of me, even ten years ahead. (J G Ballard Quotes) I work for three or four hours a day, in the late morning and early afternoon. Then I go out for a walk and come back in time for a large gin and tonic. (J G Ballard Quotes) Most English writers are not interested in change but in the social novel. That demands a static backdrop. I’m intensely interested in change - probably as a matter of self-preservation. What the hell is going to happen next? (J G Ballard Quotes) I thought it was a wonderfully conceptual act actually, to fire a replica pistol at a figurehead - the guy could have been working for Andy Warhol! (J G Ballard Quotes) Medicine was certainly intended to be a career. I wanted to become a psychiatrist, an adolescent ambition which, of course, is fulfilled by many psychiatrists. The doctor/psychiatrist figures in my writing are alter egos of a kind, what I would have been had I not become a writer - a personal fantasy that I’ve fed into my fiction. (J G Ballard Quotes) To my child’s eyes, which had seen nothing else, Shanghai was a waking dream where everything I could imagine had already been taken to its extreme. (J G Ballard Quotes) I believe that if it were possible to scrap the whole of existing literature, all writers would find themselves inevitably producing something very close to SF ... No other form of fiction has the vocabulary of ideas and images to deal with the present, let alone the future. (J G Ballard Quotes) During the 1960s, the Shanghai of my childhood seemed a portent of the media cities of the future, dominated by advertising and mass circulation newspapers and swept by unpredictable violence. (J G Ballard Quotes) I would love to have been a painter in the tradition of the surrealist painters who I admire so much. (J G Ballard Quotes) If you’re against globalisation, it doesn’t achieve much by sort of bombing the head offices of Shell or Nestle. You unsettle people much more by blowing up an Oxfam shop because people can’t understand the motive (J G Ballard Quotes) The surrealists, and the modern movement in painting as a whole, seemed to offer a key to the strange postwar world with its threat of nuclear war. The dislocations and ambiguities, in cubism and abstract art as well as the surrealists, reminded me of my childhood in Shanghai (J G Ballard Quotes) Put a higher value on yourself. Being hyper-realistic about everything is too simple a get-out (J G Ballard Quotes) It is difficult to remember just how formal middle-class life was in the 1930’s and 40s. I wore a suit and tie at home from the age of 18. One dressed for breakfast. One lived in a very formal way, and emotions were not paraded. And my childhood was not unusual. (J G Ballard Quotes) By the eighteenth book, one has a sense of having bricked oneself into a niche, a roosting place for other people’s pigeons. I wouldn’t recommend it. (J G Ballard Quotes) I felt the pressure of imagination against the doors of my mind was so great that they were going to burst. (J G Ballard Quotes)

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