Ursula K. Le Guin Quotes

A collection of quotes by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Ursula K. Le Guin was an acclaimed American author known for her contributions to the science fiction and fantasy genres. Born on October 21, 1929, in Berkeley, California, Le Guin had a lifelong passion for writing from an early age. She completed her education at Radcliffe College and went on to pursue a degree in French and Italian literature from Columbia University.

Le Guin's literary career spanned six decades, during which she wrote a multitude of novels, short stories, poems, and essays. Her works often explored themes of gender, race, politics, and social justice. Le Guin's most famous works include "The Left Hand of Darkness," "The Dispossessed," and the "Earthsea" series. Her writing was characterized by vivid world-building, nuanced characters, and thought-provoking ideas.

Throughout her career, Le Guin received numerous accolades, including multiple Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards. Her impact on the literary world extended beyond her own works, as she also advocated for the recognition and artistic validity of science fiction and fantasy as genres. Le Guin was a prominent and influential figure within the speculative fiction community, inspiring countless authors and readers with her imaginative storytelling and insightful commentary on the human condition.

Ursula K. Le Guin passed away on January 22, 2018, in Portland, Oregon, leaving behind a rich literary legacy and a lasting impact on the genre she so masterfully contributed to.

To light a candle is to cast a shadow.

To light a candle is to cast a shadow.

Ursula K. Le Guin

She'll die.' 'Aye. That's a consequence of being alive.

She'll die.' 'Aye. That's a consequence of being alive.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Freedom is a heavy load, a great and strange burden for the

Freedom is a heavy load, a great and strange burden for the spirit to undertake. It is not easy. It is not a gift given, but a choice made, and the choice may be a hard one. The road goes upward towards the light; but the laden traveler may never reach the end of it.

Ursula K. Le Guin

I expect it will turn out that sexual intercourse is possibl

I expect it will turn out that sexual intercourse is possible between Gethenian double-sexed and Hainish-norm one-sexed human beings, though such intercourse will inevitably be sterile. It remains to be proved; Estraven and I proved nothing except perhaps a rather subtler point.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Love Friendship

The High-Intelligence Life Forms of the planet, of which the

The High-Intelligence Life Forms of the planet, of which there were at least three species, all of low technological achievement, they would ignore or enslave or extirpate, whichever was most convenient. For to an aggressive people only technology mattered.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Life Technology People Intelligence

It seemed, at least, that they had not taught the boy to lie

It seemed, at least, that they had not taught the boy to lie. But they had not taught him to know truth from lies.

Ursula K. Le Guin

If a book were written all in numbers, it would be true. It

If a book were written all in numbers, it would be true. It would be just. Nothing said in words ever came out quite even. Things in words got twisted and ran together, instead of staying straight and fitting together. But underneath the words, at the center, like the center of the Square, it all came out even. Everything could change, yet nothing would be lost. If you saw the numbers you could see that, the balance, the pattern. You saw the foundations of the world. And they were solid.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Science Language Physics Maths

Without war there are no heroes.What harm would that be?Oh,

Without war there are no heroes.What harm would that be?Oh, Lavinia, what a woman's question that is.

Ursula K. Le Guin

War Women Inspirational

If you see a whole thing - it seems that it's always beautif

If you see a whole thing - it seems that it's always beautiful. Planets, lives... But up close a world's all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life's a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern.

Ursula K. Le Guin

I talk about the gods, I am an atheist. But I am an artist t

I talk about the gods, I am an atheist. But I am an artist too, and therefore a liar. Distrust everything I say. I am telling the truth.

Ursula K. Le Guin

I had forgotten how much light there is in the world, till y

I had forgotten how much light there is in the world, till you gave it back to me.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Life Love Light

Truth, as ever, avoids the stranger.

Truth, as ever, avoids the stranger.

Ursula K. Le Guin

All knowledge is local, all truth is partial. No truth can m

All knowledge is local, all truth is partial. No truth can make another truth untrue. All knowledge is part of the whole knowledge. A true line, a true color. Once you have seen the larger pattern, you cannot get back to seeing the part as the whole.

Ursula K. Le Guin

I have told the story I was asked to tell. I have closed it,

I have told the story I was asked to tell. I have closed it, as so many stories close, with a joining of two people. What is one man's and one woman's love and desire, against the history of two worlds, the great revolutions of our lifetimes, the hope, the unending cruelty of our species? A little thing. But a key is a little thing, next to the door it opens. If you lose the key, the door may never be unlocked. It is in our bodies that we lose or begin our freedom, in our bodies that we accept or end our slavery. So I wrote this book for my friend, with whom I have lived and will die free.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Freedom Love Slavery

We of Es Toch tell a little myth, which says that in the beg

We of Es Toch tell a little myth, which says that in the beginning the Creator told a great lie. For there was nothing at all, but the Creator spoke, saying, It exists. And behold, in order that the lie of God might be God's truth, the universe at once began to exist.

Ursula K. Le Guin

To oppose something is to maintain it... You must go somewhe

To oppose something is to maintain it... You must go somewhere else; you must have another goal; then you walk a different road.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Inspirational Political

It's a rare gift, to know where you need to be, before you'v

It's a rare gift, to know where you need to be, before you've been to all the places you don't need to be.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Inspirational Fantasy Magic Earthsea

I doubt that the imagination can be suppressed. If you truly

I doubt that the imagination can be suppressed. If you truly eradicated it in a child, he would grow up to be an eggplant.

Ursula K. Le Guin

What you love, you will love. What you undertake you will co

What you love, you will love. What you undertake you will complete. You are a fulfiller of hope; you are to be relied on. But seventeen years give little armor against despair...Consider, Arren. To refuse death is to refuse life.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Life Death Love

Oh, never and forever aren't for mortals, love. But we won't

Oh, never and forever aren't for mortals, love. But we won't be parted till I know it's right that we part.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Inspirational Mythology Parting