89 Quotes About Dystopium

Hate looks like everybody else until it smiles Tahereh Mafi

...they come to us, these restless dead, Shrouds woven from the words of men, With trumpets sounding overhead( The walls of hope have grown so thin And all our vaunted innocence Has withered in this endless frost) That promise little recompense For all we risk, for all we've lost... Mira Grant

The more I write stories for young people, and the more young readers I meet, the more I'm struck by how much kids long to see themselves in stories. To see their identities and perspectives–their avatars–on the page. Not as issues to be addressed or as icons for social commentary, but simply as people who get to do cool things in amazing worlds. Yes, all the “issue” books are great and have a place in literature, but it's a different and wildly joyous gift to find yourself on the pages of an entertainment, experiencing the thrills and chills of a world more adventurous than our own. And when you see that as a writer, you quickly realize that you don't want to be the jerk who says to a young reader, “Sorry, kid. You don't get to exist in story; you're too different.” You don't want to be part of our present dystopia that tells kids that if they just stopped being who they are they could have a story written about them, too. That's the role of the bad guy in the dystopian stories, right? Given a choice, I'd rather be the storyteller who says every kid can have a chance to star. . Paolo Bacigalupi

Homo sapiens! The name itself was an irony. They had not been wise at all, but incredibly stupid. Lords of the Earth with their great gray brains, their thinking minds had placed them above all other forms of life. Yet it had not been thought that compelled them to act, but emotion. From the dawn of their evolution they had killed, and conquered, and subdued. They had committed atrocities on others of their kind, ravaged the land, polluted and destroyed, left millions to starve in Third World countries, and finished it all with a nuclear holocaust. The mutants were right. Intelligent creatures did not commit genocide, or murder the environment on which they were dependent. Louise Lawrence

Such is the control, and such the public mentality, enjoyed by the Swedish planners. The rulers of the Soviet Union, although favoured by despotic power, are not so fortunate. Obstructively resentful of officialdom, the Russian, in the words of the Spanish saying, has always known how orders are 'to be obeyed but not carried out'. To the Swede, that sort of compromise is downright immoral. His elected leaders have received those political blessings denied the autocrats in the Kremlin: compliant citizens and an unopposed bureaucracy. Roland Huntford

I never thought it would get this bad. I never thought the Reestablishment would take things so far. They're incinerating culture, the beauty of diversity. The new citizens of our world will be reduced to nothing but numbers, easily interchangeable, easily removable, easily destroyed for disobedience. We have lost our humanity. Tahereh Mafi

And Mother does not hate her; actually, she fears Damaya. Is there a difference? Maybe. N. K. Jemisin

...she wonders why a part of her is trying to find value in degradation. N. K. Jemisin

Once upon a time there was war, and starvation, and death. Once upon a time we would kill our brothers and sisters, fearing for our own lives. Once upon a time the characters turned from us, and we wept. Now we do not war, nor do we fear, nor do we weep. We Redact. F.D. Lee

If nothing else, it's pleasant to consider the possibility. He likes the thought of ships moving over the water, toward another world just out of sight. Unknown

Games are never over because you think them so! Which is why I like you. Are you doing what you want to do...or are you simply another piece of a darkened puzzle? Your own actions predetermined by powers higher than yourself? LaTorre Mays

Writing a novel is agony. George Orwell

If women's pants were suggestive, men's were equally so, and they revealed a great deal more of what was underneath them. And yet no one accused men of being improper or encouraging sin by reminding women of what hung between their legs. She looked at herself in the mirror, irritated suddenly by the double standard. This was how her body was made. The fact that it was well made and encased in a pair of blue jeans didn't mean she was inviting anything. Hillary Jordan

Inside the room there sat a rocker, which she sat on, and which had rocked her while she sipped the beer, because in spite of herself she had become so giddy to have so quickly relieved her heart that she allowed herself to lean backwards while in the rocker, which had made it possible for the rocker to rock her, although it was not her intention to be so rocked. Also there stood an ironing board with a still hot iron on it that was burning a yellow shift, and there was, among several items that were not as noticeable to the woman, and yet were noticeable enough to at least bear mention, a fake man." I hope you don't mind me asking, " said the woman who lived in the room, but then while in her chair she nodded off. Justin Dobbs

It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be evenly distributed, while power remained in the hands of a small privileged caste. But in practice such a society could not long remain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooner or later realise that the privileged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance. . George Orwell

Who did the council fight?"" It split in two and fought itself."" That's suicide! "" No, ordinary behaviour. The efficient half eats the less efficient half and grows stronger. War is just a violent way of doing what half the people do calmly in peacetime: using the other half for food, heat, machinery and sexual pleasure. Man is the pie that bakes and eats himself, and the recipe is separation."" I refuse to believe men kill each other just to make their enemies rich."" How can men recognize their real enemies when their family, schools and work teach them to struggle with each other and to believe law and decency come from the teachers?"" My son won't be taught that, " said Lanark firmly." You have a son?"" Not yet. . Alasdair Gray

Eric, you need to look at the whole picture, " the PM said. "You look at the jobless as a huge pile of scrap and you're looking for what can be recycled. That's good. That's your job. But what you don't realise is that this pile of scrap itself serves a purpose. I need my zeros, Eric. They put fear in people; fear of crime and terrorism. They are a stark reminder to the stakeholders that what they despise today, they may end up joining tomorrow. It keeps them obedient. Remember that!. Mark Cantrell

Everything was so much sharper without the Link fogging me--sights, sounds, smells. It was exhilarating and shocking and terrifying. I knew my emotions had grown too strong. They were dangerous to the Community. They were dangerous to me. But still, I wanted color. I wanted to soar with happiness even if it meant dealing with the weight of fear and guilt, too. I wanted to live. And that meant that I couldn't give the glitching up. At least not yet. Just a little bit longer. Heather Anastasiu

...I've spent the last fifteen years of my life railing against the game of soccer, an exercise that has been lauded as "the sport of the future" since 1977. Thankfully, that future dystopia has never come. Chuck Klosterman

There was no sudden twists or ups and downs, just stories of that person's everyday life. The theme was "growing old". There were no beautiful wo Takashi Kajii

Never trust a man who sits, uninvited, at the head of the table in another man's home. Cecelia Ahern

I plant a gentle parting kiss on his lips, our strategy is well and truly screwed at this stage anyway. We barely lasted a day. Siobhan Davis

Please, Tommy. Please James Dashner

If we keep punishing people for what their parents or their ancestors have done, the world as a whole can never move forward. Society will never grow. Jennifer Wilson

I work my way through the rest of my dates, but I'm only there in body. The boys usually give up after the first hour; it's difficult to have a conversation all by yourself. My ratings plummet, but at least my air-time is minimal now, I'm not offering much in the way of entertainment these days. Siobhan Davis

Find our way out, Greenie. Solve the buggin' Maze and find our way out. James Dashner

All of the things that were shown in early studies to be good for longevity–happy marriages, healthy bodies–are ours to have. We live long, good lives. We die on our eightieth birthdays, surrounded by our families, before dementia sets in. Cancer, heart disease, and most debilitatingillnesses are almost entirely eradicated. This is as close to perfect as any society has ever managed to get. Ally Condie

His eyes met mine. Brown eyes. I couldn’t read anything and as he turned away I realised he didn’t intend to tell me anything either. J.A. Rogers

This is the legacy of a compassionate bunch. Our fate now rests on the whims of men. Leot Felton

For one last time, I said my goodbyes to the place I’d known as home for the last decade, and for the first time, I welcomed the unknown. Nicole Sobon

Sadie gave her head an exaggerated scratch. ‘Don’t come too close if you know what’s good for you, these nits are on steroids. Sharon Sant

He saw the rules of life clearly for the first time and they were simple: it was a game where Death was the only winner. Sharon Sant

It was a room full of ghosts, arranged in readiness for days that would never happen. Sharon Sant

New York City is finished, " he said. "They can't keep order there, and you can't have business without order. It'll take a hundred years to sort things out and get it all going again." " What do you hear of the U.S. government? I said. "We don't have electricity an hour a month anymore and there's nothing on the air but the preachers anyway." " Well, I hear that this Harvey Albright pretends to be running things out of Minneapolis now. It was Chicago, but that may have gone by the boards. Congress hasn't met since twelve twenty-one." Ricketts said, using a common shorthand for the destruction of Washington a few days before Christmas some years back. "We're still fighting skirmishes with Mexico. The Everglades are drowning. Trade is becoming next to impossible, from everything I can tell, and business here is drying up. It all seems like a bad dream. The future sure isn't what it used to be, is it?" " We believe in the future, sir. Only it's not like the world we've left behind, " Joseph said. " How's that?" " We're building our own New Jerusalem up the river. it's a world made by hand, now, one stone at a time, one board at a time, one hope at a time, one soul at a time.. James Howard Kunstler

The antagonists of finance’s future, the diaboli ex machina, may have no face at all. Usman W. Chohan

If you love someone, if someone loved you, if they taught you to write and made it so you could speak, how can you do nothing at all? You might as well take their words out of the dirt and try to snatch them from the wind. Because once you love, it is gone. You love and you cannot call it back. Ally Condie

My fingers find his. They are warm, pulsing with genetically altered blue blood, powered by mirror matter. Georgia Clark

I focus all my energy into become a faster, stronger, and better version of myself. Georgia Clark

We’re a nonviolent collective working to undermine the Trust and free the Badlands. Once the Trust is exposed as lying and corrupt, we believe Edenites will do the right thing. Open the borders. Save the Badlands.” Ling lowers her voice with deliberate control. “Kudzu is going to destroy something called Aevum. Georgia Clark

I catch movement from the corner of my eye. A tell slender boy stands near us, just a few feet away. Adrenaline bangs through my system. I shove Abel behind me and whip my knife from where I’d hidden it in my boot. “Who the hell are you? Georgia Clark

A mix of revenge, sadness and anger funnels into a decision that’s so simple and neat, it could fit in my pocket. I will help Kudzu destroy Aevum. Just like Magnus destroyed my mother. Georgia Clark

The better you tell an old story, the more you are talking about right now. John Crowley

I could be listening to Painted Red weave the stories of the saints in her rich roomy voice, and beginning to see how all those stories were in some way one story: a simple story about being alive, and being a man; a story that, simple as it was, couldn't itself be told. John Crowley

Elijah blinked in dazzling sunlight and took a deep breath. The sweet-pepper scent of meadow grass told him immediately where he was. Winded, he skidded to a halt as the portal spat him out. Above him stretched skies of cornflower blue, dotted with threadbare white clouds sailing over like cotton galleons on the summer breeze. Sharon Sant

It helps if you don’t think of them as human. More than one officer has called this job pest control. Christine Amsden

Beyond the queues, the vacancy screens listed jobs in a multitude of languages. Invariably, they were low-paid and short-term dead-ends. Nearby, people in headphones sat at a bank of machines: the blind and the illiterate force-fed with ‘opportunities’ by soothing machine voices. On the far wall, in large print, a poster declared: BEGGARS CANNOT BE CHOOSERS. Mark Cantrell

Simon hated her for that. Perhaps it was automatic. Her appearance alone made her different from him, and human beings had always feared and hated anyone who was different. Two thousand years of history saw it being repeated over and over, the perpetual struggle of one race, or tribe, or creed, against another.. each one thinking they were right, superior, morally justified, or chosen by God. Simon saw himself as normal, Laura as abnormal. Louise Lawrence

I'm just sorry. Sorry that there won't be any more camping trips for kids or rock bands or even new books to read. No more movies or fresh bags of popcorn. It really sucks when you think about it. Of course, there is the possibility that we might be able to win this war, but not for a very long time. Probably longer than you and I will ever exist in this world."" I try not to think about it."" Sometimes it's all I ever think about. Jeyn Roberts

The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness; only power, pure power. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me? George Orwell

The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me? . George Orwell

Oh that voice, so sweet. Rich, like the taste of vanilla ice cream, vowels like flute music, warm caramel consonants. She could float in that voice forever and not miss a thing. Suki Michelle

The zoo grounds reeked of desolation, but the silence had an undercurrent, a silvery vibe, like the hush of a concert hall just before the first note. Suki Michelle

Out here we speak Malspeak, a mangle of English and old languages like Spanish, Mandarin, and Russian. Dialects from a time when the land was defined by many borders. Now there’s only one that matters. And I am on the wrong side of it. Georgia Clark

There will come a time when it isn't 'They're spying on me through my phone' anymore. Eventually, it will be 'My phone is spying on me'. Philip K. Dick

Mai whispers, “Why did she have to leave? When she was there, I knew where I had her; she was safe.”“ You of all people, ” Nicholas says, “should know that freedom is more important than being safe. E.J. Squires

In the future, violence would clearly become a valuable form of social cement. J.G. Ballard

So many likes and retweets for having the "GUTS"to say what every-one thinks O N T H E F U C K I N G I N T E R- N E T(but never in the street). Andy Carrington

He never realized how noisy American silence was until all the gadgets died. Marcus Sakey

Perfect crime, ' he said softly. 'Yes?' 'Persuade an innocent, idealistic young girl that the future of the human race depends on her sacrificing her own life. She will come into hospital as trustingly as a lamb to the slaughter. She will welcome the implantation of a baby that will kill her. She'll lie there while her brain is destroyed for nine whole months, and no police will arrest you, no court will judge you, you'll get away scot free. At the end of nine months she'll be taken off life support and she'll be completely dead. And no one will be blamed. . Jane Rogers

But to what end? Some... future revolution? It can never succeed. As Seneca warned Nero: No matter how many of us you kill, you will never kill your successor. David Mitchell

Be they pharaohs or freeholders, barons or farmers, landowners have been the most capable, most intrepid, and most assertive members of civilized society. David Marusek

Passing him with frightening speed, I see him sailing downward with his open parachute. “It won’t open! ” “Pull harder! ” Looking down, I estimate that at this speed it will only be a matter of seconds before I collide with the black lava rocks below. They rigged it! is all I can think. President Volkov won. I lost. I failed Gemma. I failed Nicholas. I failed myself. All of a sudden, someone rams into me from behind and hooks his arms and legs around my body. I look back and see Cory. “You’re crazy! ” I scream as we spin out of control.“ I know! ” He smiles like he really is, but he feeds off of this kind of insanity. “Hold on! ” The ground is so close and I can see the green grass and smell the scent of it mixed with the sulfur. He helps me turn around and I lock my arms around his thick shoulders, my legs around his firm hips. We’ll die together, and he doesn’t seem to care one bit. He really is insane! . E.J. Squires

Vaughn is talking about the heat, and his voice is so excited that it breaks into whispers at times. He loves his madness the way a bird loves the sky. Lauren DeStefano

The greywastes was a basin overflowing with insanity, the very earth underneath me was only surviving because it was too mad to know it had died Quil Carter

It was a sad loss, this illusion of importance, a humbling blow. Hugh Howey

I am alive, I live, I breathe, I put my hand out, unfolded, into the sunlight. Margaret Atwood

The wren goes to't Unknown

He was digging in his garden--digging, too, in his own mind, laboriously turning up the substance of his thought. Death--and he drove in his spade once, and again, and yet again. And all our yesterdays have lighted fools they way to dusty death. A convincing thunder rumbled through the words. He lifted another spadeful of earth. Why had Linda died? Why had she been allowed to become gradually less than human and at last.. He shuddered. A good kissing carrion. He planted his foot on his spade and stamped it fiercely into the tough ground. As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kills us for their sport. Thunder again; words that proclaimed themselves true--truer somehow than truth itself. And yet that same Gloucester had called them ever-gentle gods. Besides, thy best of rest is sleep, and that thou oft provok'st; yet grossly fear'st thy death which is no more. No more than sleep. Sleep. Perchance to dream. His spade struck against a stone; he stooped to pick it up. For in that sleep of death, what dreams..? . Aldous Huxley

My chest tightens to the point I fear my heart will suffocate from the pressure of it. Society's standards are the total opposite from how I was raised. The boy who I thought to be so strikingly handsome has less than a year of his life to live, my new friend only a few more months beyond that. Yet they are living these uneventful lives in which they don't think there is a reason for anything. Will I ever see my mother again, or is this how I will be forced to live the rest of my life, as well? . Jen Naumann

No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be? George Orwell

I can almost see the processes whirrling clunkily in his singularix, as his excited nervous system battled with his logic circuits. Georgia Clark

Life involves a lot of unknowns. S.L. Wallace

My tears had unexpectedly become real. S.L. Wallace

I know who I am, and I'm being true to myself. S.L. Wallace

You'd be surprised what I can do with a butter knife. S.L. Wallace

Oh, I wonder if there's another way. S.L. Wallace

I'm a wanted fugitive, and you're an upstanding bachelor of the year! S.L. Wallace

This was my world: cold, tangled and distorted. -Keira S.L. Wallace

We're more alike than you realize. S.L. Wallace

Anything but chicken, and some honesty on the side, please. S.L. Wallace

What makes us the strongest tribe on the continent is the fact that a group that opposes these values--a group that would have mankind remain in the new dark ages--is permitted to grow, permitted to exist..and, after it becomes a violent terrorist organization, is allowed to live on it own lands, taken out of the lands of those it has attacked and continues to attack! " He had to stop speaking then--the applause was louder than even his amplified voice. "They expect that fear will drive us to become like them..closed-minded, blind, angry. Our society will remain open and free so long as I am standing upright, " he continued, once the applause died down. Lia Habel

If you not longer let the community hear all of it's significant voices - you begin to have; a single narrow view of: the problems of the society, of the solutions of society - and you begun soon or later overwhelmed by the society you don't understand. Ben Bagdikian

I sink down into my body as into a swamp, fenland, where only I know the footing…. I’m a cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am and glows red within its translucent wrapping. Inside it is a space, huge as the sky at night and dark and curved like that, though black-red rather than black. Margaret Atwood