“You know when sometimes you meet someone so beautiful, and then you actually talk to them, and five minutes later they're dull as a brick. But then there's other people, and you meet them and you think 'not bad, they're okay', and then you get to know them, and their face sort of becomes them, like their personality's written all over it, and they just they turn into something so beautiful...”
―
―
“I'm an observer, not a conqueror. I have no interest in changing other worlds to suit me. I choose the lighter touch: changing myself to suit them.”
― To Be Taught, If Fortunate
― To Be Taught, If Fortunate
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it.”
― On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long if You Know How to Use It
― On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long if You Know How to Use It
“True peace is not merely the absence of some negative force—tension, confusion or war; it is the presence of some positive force—justice, good will and brotherhood.”
―
―
“She would never, ever understand the idea that a child, especially an infant, was of more value than an adult who had already gained all the skills needed to benefit the community. The death of a new hatchling was so common as to be expected. The death of a child about to feather, yes, that was sad. But a real tragedy was the loss of an adult with friends and lovers and family. The idea that a loss of potential was somehow worse than a loss of achievement and knowledge was something she had never been able to wrap her brain around.”
― The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
― The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
The English Bookshop Sci-Fi Reading Group Forum
— 31 members
— last activity May 08, 2017 04:12AM
THE ENGLISH BOOKSHOP SCI-FI READING GROUP UPPSALA & STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN This forum is for both the members which meet regularly at The English Bookshop ...more
Johan’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Johan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Johan
Lists liked by Johan






















