Octavia E. Butler

I began writing about power because I had so little.

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Power came the way a child came -- with agony.

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There must be good marriages somewhere, but to me, marriage had the feel of people tolerating each other, enduring each other because they were afraid to be alone or because each was a habit that the other couldn't quite break.

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Read every day and learn from what you read.

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Was an eternity of absolute ease just another name for hell?

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Your teachersAre all around you.All that you perceive,All that you experience,All that is given to youor taken from you,All that you love or hate,need or fearWill teach you--If you will learn.God is your firstand your last teacher.God is your harshest teacher:subtle,demanding.Learn or die.

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People have the right to call themselves whatever they like. That doesn't bother me. It's other people doing the calling that bothers me.

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Consider--We are bornNot with purpose,But with potential.

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He rubbed his head again. 'Five years is longer than it sounds. So much longer.

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Let them see that you trust them & let them solve their own problems, make their own decisions.Do that & they will commit their lives to you. Bully the, control them out of fear or malice or just for your own convenience, & after a while you'll have to spend all your time thinking for them, controlling them, & stifling their resentment.

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I just knew there were stories I wanted to tell.

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First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice.

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There is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns.

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In order to rise from its own ashes, a Phoenix first must burn.

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God is Change.Earthseed: The Books of the LivingLauren Oya Olamina

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All that you touchYou Change.All that you ChangeChanges you.The only lasting truthis Change.Godis Change.

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Beware:Ignorance Protects itself.IgnorancePromotes suspicion.SuspicionEngenders fear.Fear quails,Irrational and blind,Or fear looms,Defiant and closed.Blind, closed,Suspicious, afraid,IgnoranceProtects itself,And protected,Ignorance grows.

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First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice.

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I just knew there were stories I wanted to tell.

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All that you touchYou Change.All that you ChangeChanges you.The only lasting truthis Change.Godis Change.

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Quotes by Octavia E. Butler