Stanislaw Lem

good books truth different

“Good books tell the truth, even when they're about things that never have been and never will be. They're truthful in a different way.”

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

other worlds suffice accept

“We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is.”

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

faith necessary impossible

“Faith is, at one and the same time, absolutely necessary and altogether impossible.”

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

idiot world internet

“I hadn't known there were so many idiots in the world until I started using the Internet.”

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

smash monument save pedestal

“When smashing monuments, save the pedestals. They always come in handy.”

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

search people world mirror

“We’re not searching for anything except people. We don’t need other worlds. We need mirrors.”

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

fate single man significance hundred thousand world

“The fate of a single man can be rich with significance, that of a few hundred less so, but the history of thousands and millions of men does not mean anything at all, in any adequate sense of the word.”

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

cannibals prefer spines

"Cannibals prefer those who have no spines."

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

dream triumph reality chance

"A dream will always triumph over reality, once it is given the chance."

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

torture pleasure

"To torture a man you have to know his pleasures."

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

art consumer creator struggle perform

"Art gives man a reminder that he is not just a consumer but a creator as well. It awakens in him the urge to struggle and perform great deeds; it fills him with the craving to pass on the Promethean fire to generations to come."

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

science explain world art reconcile

"Science explains the world, but only Art can reconcile us to it."

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

climb summit roads down

"You climb to reach the summit, but once there, discover that all roads lead down."

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

civilization road fret death pet toilet cigars

"Each civilization may choose one of two roads to travel, that is, either fret itself to death, or pet itself to death. And in the course of doing one or the other, it eats its way into the Universe, turning cinders and flinders of stars into toilet seats, pegs, gears, cigarette holders and pillowcases, and it does this because, unable to fathom the Universe, it seeks to change that Fathomlessness into Something Fathomable."

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)

humor differently

"If man had more of a sense of humor, things might have turned out differently."

― Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006)