Today we celebrate Ray Bradbury, born August 22, 1920. The author has bequeathed us an incredible opus that includes modern classics like Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and The Martian Chronicles. Here's a look at Bradbury's legacy, in words and pictures.
"We are the miracle of force and matter making itself over into imagination and will. Incredible. The Life Force experimenting with forms. You for one. Me, for another. The Universe has shouted itself alive. We are one of the shouts."
"Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things."
"I spent three days a week for ten years educating myself in the public library, and it's better than college. People should educate themselves--you can get a complete education for no money. At the end of ten years, I had read every book in the library and I'd written a thousand stories."
"If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be too cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down."
"Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for."
"If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be too cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down."
