Friday, May 6, 2016

Ursula Le Guin


Ursula Le Guin

There are heaps upon heaps of amazing people out there, & a lot of them say things worth pondering. This week we’ll take a look at a few quotes from Ursula K. Le Guin.

Born in 1929 & still going strong, author Ursula K. Le Guin has won the National Book Award, the PEN-Malamud, the Hugo, the Nebula, the National Book Foundation Medal, & tons more. Many readers know her as a brilliant fantasy writer, though not all her work falls in that genre. To cast a tiny light into her thinking, here are four of her quotes:

“My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it.”

“To light a candle is to cast a shadow.”

“The creative adult is the child who has survived.

&

“The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.”

I’m hoping some of you might choose a quote from above & have something to say about it in the comments section.

Big thanks to this week’s sources: UrsulaKLeguin.com, SearchQuotes, BrainyQuote, &  Quotes.net
Author photo by Marian Wood Kolisch.

10 comments:

  1. All great quotes. I've been a fan of LeGuin since I was in my teens!

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  2. "The creative adult is the child who has survived." That is so intriguing. I'm reading that so say, our creativity is the child in us that survived the transition. But much more poetically spoken. Or...maybe it means something completely different!

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    1. Hi Christine - as one of the many cogs in the American educational system, I'd say Le Guin had it right. I don't think any teachers intend to slap the creativity of of their students, but the system sure seems to have such intentions.

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  3. Thanks Ursula and Charlie. Maybe her quote will get me off the spot and get my stuff sent out.

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    1. Steve - I'm sure she'd be supportive, but I'm afraid the person who's going to get you off the spot to get your stuff sent out is the guy named Figler...

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  4. “The creative adult is the child who has survived" is the Le Guin quote that resonates most with me. Creative adults often have childlike qualities of curiosity and willingness to take chances.

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    1. Hey Claire Annette -- thanks for coming by & for weighing in. This one really hits the spot for me, too.

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  5. Thanks Chester, she's a woman, writer, I very much admire, since a story that stayed with me since 1973. I wrote a long letter to her last year and never sent it, regarding a powerful dream I had about her in the late 1980s and some amazing synchronicities following it. This is a good reminder for me to do print and mail that letter. Best, Lee Sutter, Los Osos

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    1. Excellent. Right now I'm attending a writers' retreat led by one of her literary compatriots, Patti Gauch. Send that letter -- these folks who are our luminaries appreciate knowing they have been inspirational.

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