Ray Bradbury

“Men are men, unfortunately, no matter what their shape, and inclined to sin.”

“It was September. In the last days when things are getting sad for no reason.”

“Kitaplar bize ne tür eşekler ve aptallar olduğumuzu hatırlatmak içindir. Kitaplar, tören alayı büyük bir gürültü içinde caddede ilerlerken, Sezar'ın kulağına 'Unutma, Sezar, sen de ölümlüsün' diyen pretoryen muhafızlarıdır.”

“And don't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine or library.”

“Atibórralos de datos no combustibles, lánzales encima tantos "hechos" que se sientan abrumados, pero totalmente al día en cuanto a información. Entonces, tendrán la sensación de que piensan, tendrán la impresión de que se mueven sin moverse. Y serán felices, porque los hechos de esta naturaleza no cambian. No les des ninguna materia delicada como Filosofía o Sociología para que empiecen a atar cabos.”

“Ask for no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping it's life away. To hell with that," he said, "shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass.”

“The sun burnt everyday. It burnt time. The world rushed in a circle and turned on its axis and time was busy burning the years and the people away, without any help from him.”

“Somehow, irresistibly, the prime thing was: nothing mattered. Life in the end seemed a prank of such size you could only stand off at this end of the corridor to note its meaningless length and it's quite unnecessary height, a mountain built to such ridiculous immensities you were dwarfed in its shadow and mocking of its pomp.”

“You've got to jump off cliffs and build your wings on the way down.”

“That's what I want, a mental evidence I can feel. I don't want physical evidence, proof you have to go out and drag in. I want evidence that you can carry in your mind and always touch and smell and feel. But there's no way to do that. In order to believe in a thing you've got to carry it with you. You can't carry the Earth, or a man, in your pocket. I want a way to do that, carry things with me always, so I can believe in them. How clumsy to have to go to all the trouble of going out and bringing in something terribly physical to prove something. I hate physical things because they can be left behind and become impossible to believe in them.”

“He felt his body divide itself into a hotness and a coldness, a softness and a hardness, a trembling and a hot trembling, the two halves grinding one upon the other”

“It's bad to get up early, stand at your typewriter and work, then find it's nothing and take a bottle to bed.”

“Summer was over. Of course you can't tell in Los Angeles.”

“Thinking a man good, we risk his duplicity. Thinking a man bad, we deny sanctuary.”

“Cuando no se puede tener la realidad, bastan los sueños.”

“I don’t need an alarm clock. My ideas wake me.”

“420 All Day”

“I want to hold onto this funny thing. God, it's gotten big on me. I don't know what it is. I'm so damned unhappy, I'm so mad, and I don't know why. I feel like I'm putting on weight. I feel fat. I feel like I'm saving a lot of things, and I don't know what. I might even start reading books.”

“You only fail if you stop writing.”

“Oh God, midnight’s not bad, you wake and go back to sleep, one or two’s not bad, you toss but sleep again. Five or six in the morning, there’s hope, for dawn’s just under the horizon. But three, now, Christ, three A.M.! Doctors say the body’s at low tide then. The soul is out. The blood moves slow. You’re the nearest to dead you’ll ever be save dying. Sleep is a patch of death, but three in the morn, full wide-eyed staring, is living death! You dream with your eyes open. God, if you had strength to rouse up, you’d slaughter your half-dreams with buckshot! But no, you lie pinned to a deep well-bottom that’s burned dry. The moon rolls by to look at you down there, with its idiot face. It’s a long way back to sunset, a far way on to dawn, so you summon all the fool things of your life, the stupid lovely things done with people known so very well who are now so very dead – And wasn’t it true, had he read somewhere, more people in hospitals die at 3 A.M. than at any other time...”

“The things you are looking for, Montag, are in the world but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety-nine per cent of them is in a book. Don't ask for guarantees. And don't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for shore."Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury”

“After all, when we had all the books we needed, we still insisted on finding the highest cliff to jump off. But we do need a breather. We do need knowledge. And perhaps in a thousand years we might pick smaller cliffs to jump off. Books are to remind us what asses and fools we are."Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury”

“He felt she was walking in a circle about him, turning him end for end, shaking him quietly, and emptying his pockets, without once moving herself."Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury”

“He balanced in space with the book in his sweating cold fingers.”

“Odio a un romano llamado Status Quo, me decía, llénate los ojos de asombro, vive como si fueras a morir en los próximos diez segundos. Observa el universo. Es más fantástico que cualquier sueño construido o pagado en una fábrica. No pidas garantías, ni pidas seguridad, nunca hubo un animal semejante.”

“Why live? Life was its own answer. Life was the propagation of more life and the living of as good a life as possible.”

“Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall.”

“If you don't like what you're doing, then don't do it.”

“Something Wicked This Way Comes”

“Augmentez la dose de sports pour chacun, développez l'esprit d'équipe, de compétition, et le besoin de penser est éliminé, non ? Organiser, organisez, super-organisez des super-super-sports. Multipliez les bandes dessinées, les films; l'esprit a de moins en moins d'appétits. L'impatience, les autos-trades sillonnées de foules qui sont ici, là, partout, nulle part. Les réfugiés du volant. Les villes se transforment en auberges routières; les hommes se déplacent comme des nomades suivant les phases de la lune, couchant ce soir dans la chambre où tu dormais à midi et moi la veille. (1re partie)On vit dans l'immédiat. Seul compte le boulot et après le travail l'embarras du choix en fait de distractions. Pourquoi apprendre quoi que ce soit sinon à presser les boutons, brancher des commutateurs, serrer des vis et des écrous ?Nous n'avons pas besoin qu'on nous laisse tranquilles. Nous avons besoin d'être sérieusement tracassés de temps à autre. Il y a combien de temps que tu n'as pas été tracassée sérieusement ? Pour une raison importante je veux dire, une raison valable ?- Tu dois bien comprendre que notre civilisation est si vaste que nous ne pouvons nous permettre d'inquiéter ou de déranger nos minorités. Pose-toi la question toi-même. Que recherchons-nous, par-dessus tout, dans ce pays ? Les gens veulent être heureux, d'accord ? Ne l'as-tu pas entendu répéter toute la vie ? Je veux être heureux, déclare chacun. Eh bien, sont-ils heureux ? Ne veillons-nous pas à ce qu'ils soient toujours en mouvement, toujours distraits ? Nous ne vivons que pour ça, c'est bien ton avis ? Pour le plaisir, pour l'excitation. Et tu dois admettre que notre civilisation fournit l'un et l'autre à satiété.Si le gouvernement est inefficace, tyrannique, vous écrase d'impôts, peu importe tant que les gens n'en savent rien. La paix, Montag. Instituer des concours dont les prix supposent la mémoire des paroles de chansons à la mode, des noms de capitales d'État ou du nombre de quintaux de maïs récoltés dans l'Iowa l'année précédente. Gavez les hommes de données inoffensives, incombustibles, qu'ils se sentent bourrés de "faits" à éclater, renseignés sur tout. Ensuite, ils s'imagineront qu'ils pensent, ils auront le sentiment du mouvement, tout en piétinant. Et ils seront heureux, parce que les connaissances de ce genre sont immuables. Ne les engagez pas sur des terrains glissants comme la philosophie ou la sociologie à quoi confronter leur expérience. C'est la source de tous les tourments. Tout homme capable de démonter un écran mural de télévision et de le remonter et, de nos jours ils le sont à peu près tous, est bien plus heureux que celui qui essais de mesurer, d'étalonner, de mettre en équations l'univers ce qui ne peut se faire sans que l'homme prenne conscience de son infériorité et de sa solitude.Nous sommes les joyeux drilles, les boute-en-train, toi, moi et les autres. Nous faisons front contre la marée de ceux qui veulent plonger le monde dans la désolation en suscitant le conflit entre la théorie et la pensée. Nous avons les doigts accrochés au parapet. Tenons bon. Ne laissons pas le torrent de la mélancolie et de la triste philosophie noyer notre monde. Nous comptons sur toi. Je ne crois pas que tu te rendes compte de ton importance, de notre importance pour protéger l'optimisme de notre monde actuel.”

“Nous sommes les joyeux drilles, les boute-en-train, toi, moi et les autres. Nous faisons front contre la marée de ceux qui veulent plonger le monde dans la désolation en suscitant le conflit entre la théorie et la pensée. Nous avons les doigts accrochés au parapet. Tenons bon. Ne laissons pas le torrent de la mélancolie et de la triste philosophie noyer notre monde. Nous comptons sur toi. Je ne crois pas que tu te rendes compte de ton importance, de notre importance pour protéger l'optimisme de notre monde actuel.”

“les livres ne racontent rien. Rien que tu puisse croire ou enseigner aux autre. Si ce sont des romans, ils parlent d'êtres qui n'existent pas, de produits de l'imagination. Dans le cas contraire, c'est encore pire. Chaque professeur traite l'autre d'idiot. Chaque philosophe essaie de brailler plus fort que son adversaire. Ils galopent tous dans tous les sens, obscurcissant les étoiles, éteignant le soleil. On en sort complètement perdu.”

“La dignité de la vérité se perd dans l'excès de ses protestations”

“Le téléviseur est réel. Il est présent. Il a ses dimensions. Il vous dit ce qu'il faut penser, vous le hurle à la figure. Il doit avoir raison. Il semble avoir raison. Il vous pousse à un tel rythme vers ses conclusions que votre esprit n'a pas le temps de s'écrier: "C'est idiot".”

“autrefois, il y avait des galeries aux maisons. Et quelque-fois, les gens restaient assis, tard dans la nuit, bavardant s'ils en avaient envie, se balançant dans leurs fauteuils, silencieux s'ils n'éprouvaient pas le besoin de parler. parfois, ils restaient là, tranquillement, à réfléchir à ruminer. Mon oncle dit que les architectes ont supprimé les galeries pour des raisons d'esthétique. Mais mon oncle dit que c'est un prétexte, rien de plus; la véritable raison, cachée en dessous, c'est qu'on ne voulait pas voir des gens passer des heures assis à ne rien faire, à se balancer, à discuter; c'était une forme détestable de vie en commun. Les gens parlaient trop. Et ils avaient le temps de penser. Alors on a détruit les galeries. Et les jardins, aussi. Il ne reste presque plus de jardins...Et voyez les mobiliers. Plus de rocking-chairs. Ils sont trop confortables. Il faut obliger les gens à courir, à prendre de l'exercise.”

“Important thing is not the me that's lying here, but the me that's sitting on the edge of the bed looking back at me, and the me that's downstairs cooking supper, or out in the garage under the car, or in the library reading. All the new parts, they count. I'm not really dying today. No person ever died that had a family.”

“I want to wake people up and make them care about being alive in this universe.”

“...trees to cool the towns in the boiling summer, trees to hold back the winter winds. There were so many things a tree could do: add color, provide shade, drop fruit, or become a children's playground, a whole sky universe to climb and hang from; an architecture of food and pleasure, that was a tree. But most of all the trees would distill an icy air for the lungs, and a gentle rustling for the ear when you lay nights in your snowy bed and were gentled to sleep by the sound.”

“Pogledaj taj svijet tamo vani,Bože,moj Bože,pogledaj ga tamo vani,izvan mene,vani onkraj moga lica!Jedini način da ga stvarno dodirneš jest da ga staviš ondje gdje će on konačno postati ja,ondje u moj krvotok,odakle će kolati tisuću,deset tisuća puta dnevno.Čvrsto ću ga ščepati da mi nikada ne utekne.Čvrsto ću ščepati svijet jednoga dana.Već mi je jedan prst na njemu.”

“Svatko mora ostaviti nešto iza sebe kad umre,rekao je moj djed.Dijete,knjigu,sliku,kuću,podignuti zid ili par napravljenih cipela.Ili zasađen vrt.Nešto što je tvoja ruka dodirnula na neki način tako da ti duša ima kamo otići kad umreš.Pa kad ljudi pogledaju to stablo ili taj cvijet koji si posadio,ti si u njemu.Nije važno što radiš,rekao je,bitno je da si nešto što si dodirnuo promijenio iz onog stanja u kojem je bilo prije no što si ga dotaknuo u nešto što, nakon što odmakneš ruke,nalikuje tebi.”

“Djevojka?Tempirana bomba.Prema onome što sam vidio u njezinom školskom dosjeu,obitelj je,siguran sam,utjecala na njezinu podsvijest.Nije željela saznati kako je nešto napravljeno,nego zašto.To može biti nezgodno.Upitaš li za veći broj stvari zašto,na kraju ćeš-ustraješ li-biti zaista nesretan.”

“Ima nas previše,pomislio je.Ima nas na milijarde,a to je previše.Nitko nikoga n pozna.Neznanci dođu i oskvrnu te.Neznanci dođu i izvade ti srce.”

“It fills me with such feelings that I don't know whether to laugh or cry.”

“It doesn’t have to be the greatest. It does have to be you.”

“And just holding her hand would be good. Can you understand that? Do you know that holding someone's hand can be `the' thing? Such a thing that your hands move while not moving. You can remember a thing like that, rather than any other thing about a night, all your life. Just holding hands can mean more, I believe it. When everything is repeated, and over, and familiar, it's the first things rather than the last that count.”

“But no man's a hero to himself.”

“This is incredible. This is quite amazing because who you're honoring tonight is not only myself but the ghost of a lot of your favorite writers. And I wouldn't be here except that they spoke to me in the library. The library's been the center of my life. I never made it to college. I started going to the library when I graduated from high school. I went to the library every day for three or four days a week for 10 years and I graduated from the library when I was 28.”

“Those who don't build must burn. It's as old as history and juvenile delinquents.”

“The beginning of wisdom, as they say. When you're seventeen you know everything. When you're twenty-seven if you still know everything you're still seventeen.”

“Well, Montag, take my word for it, I've had to read a few in my time, to know what I was about, and the books say nothing! Nothing you can teach or believe. They're about non-existent people, figments of imagination, if they're fiction. And if they're non-fiction, it's worse, one professor calling another an idiot, one philosopher screaming down another's gullet. All of them running about, putting out the stars and extinguishing the sun. You come away lost.”