I sent The World Well Lost to one editor who rejected it on sight, and then wrote a letter to every other editor in the field warning them against the story, and urging them to reject it on sight without reading it.
Theodore SturgeonRead
I repeat Sturgeon's Revelation, which was wrung out of me after twenty years of wearying defense of science fiction against attacks of people who used the worst examples of the field for ammunition, and whose conclusion was that ninety percent of it is crud.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Sturgeon's Revelation highlights that while much of science fiction may be of low quality, the valuable works within the genre are worth defending.
The quote by Theodore Sturgeon reveals his insight into the dual nature of science fiction as a genre. He acknowledges that a significant portion of it may be poorly crafted ('ninety percent of it is crud'), yet he emphasizes the importance of recognizing and defending the small but valuable segment that contributes to the richness of the genre. This reflects a broader philosophical view on how we often dismiss entire fields based on their weakest examples, rather than appreciating the potential for greatness that exists within them.
Themes
Science FictionQualityDefensePerceptionArt
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the evolution of literary genres, one might say, 'As Theodore Sturgeon noted, despite criticism, we must appreciate the real gems in science fiction.'
More from Theodore Sturgeon
All quotes →Science fiction, outside of poetry, is the only literary field which has no limits, no parameters whatsoever. You can go not only into the future, but into that wonderful place called other, which is simply another universe, another planet, another species.
Theodore SturgeonRead
A good science fiction story is a story with a human problem, and a human solution, which would not have happened at all without its science content.
Theodore SturgeonRead
There are people who have tremendously important things to say, but they say it so poorly that nobody would ever want to read it.
Theodore SturgeonRead
Love's a different sort of thing, hot enough to make you flow into something, interflow, cool and anneal and be a weld stronger than what you started with.
Theodore SturgeonRead
Similar quotes
He who cannot command himself should obey. And many can command themselves, but much is still lacking before they can obey themselves.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Security is elusive. It's impossible. We all die. We all get old. We all get sick. People leave us. People change us. Nothing is secure.
Eve EnslerRead
I don't think pandemics make us afraid of death, I think they make us afraid of oblivion. They force us to grapple with the futility of effort. Also they make us barf which isn't fun either... Wash your hands, cover your coughs, and find a way to hold in balance the futility of effort with the necessity to struggle.
John GreenRead
I fear three newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets.
Napoleon BonaparteRead
I cried over beautiful things, knowing no beautiful thing lasts.
Carl SandburgRead
For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment.
Viktor E. FranklRead