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.
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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
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