100 Years of Lem: Quotes by Poland's Sci-Fi Superstar
One hundred years ago, a person was born who forever changed the landscape of science fiction. Since then, Stanisław Lem’s works have sold tens of millions of copies, been translated into over 40 languages, and inspired films, television episodes, stage productions, and even a video game. In celebration of ‘the Year of Stanisław Lem’, take a look at some of this writer’s most powerful – and even perplexing – quotes.
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You can’t reach the truth without crossing a sea of mistakes.
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From 'The Chain of Chance', 1975
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A simplification touching upon the truth, but cheaply, is of no more value than a lie.
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From 'His Master’s Voice', 1968
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Promo graphic for the Lem 2021 campaign, photo: Lem 2021 / AMI
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Man cannot change the world without changing himself.
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From 'Summa Technologiae', 1964
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Man’s principal opponent, enemy, and pest turns out to be man himself.
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From 'The World on the Edge', 2000
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A man becomes greater the more he encounters obstacles.
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From 'The Magellanic Cloud', 1955
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The more fully man learns about the world, the more limitless the horizons that open before him.
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From 'The Astronauts', 1951
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Man is a highly illogical creature and therein lies his humanity.
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From 'Peace on Earth', 1987
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Promo graphic for the Lem 2021 campaign, photo: Lem 2021 / AMI
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If hell exists, then it is probably computerised.
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From 'The Megabyte Bomb', 1999
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Technology is not contagious, but it spreads faster than an epidemic.
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From 'Thus Spoke Lem' by Stanisław Bereś, 2002
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Global television has turned into a gigantic funeral home that sweeps up misfortunes and catastrophes from the most far-flung places.
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From 'Delightful Times', 1995
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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.
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From 'Tales of Pirx the Pilot', 1966
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Literature in an age of faith does not lie, it only serves.
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From 'A Perfect Vacuum', 1971
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The passage of historical time affects literature as wind affects fire: it blows out the small sparks and fans the larger ones.
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From 'Microworlds', 1984
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Promo graphic for the Lem 2021 campaign, photo: Lem 2021 / AMI
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To live, in other words, is to possess a future which will become your present.
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From 'Fables for Robots', 1964
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The future will probably reside between the extremities of the hells brought to life by technology and harmoniously constructed paradises.
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From 'Science Fiction and Futurology', 1970
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What futurology can realistically offer the world is insufficient, while what is sufficient is not realistic.
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From 'Science Fiction and Futurology', 1970
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What else is mathematics, if not logic sung aloud?
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From 'The Journal', 1963
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Empirical systems lose their validity, while mathematical ones never do. Their emptiness guarantees their immortality.
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From 'Summa Technologiae', 1964
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Promo graphic for the Lem 2021 campaign, photo: Lem 2021 / AMI
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The more one has the power to accomplish, the less one knows what ought to be accomplished.
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From 'The Star Diaries', 1976
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As our knowledge expands, we recognise the vastness of our ignorance.
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From 'Short Circuits', 2004
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The distance between God and reason increases with the passage of time – everywhere, always!
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From 'The Star Diaries', 1957
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God is an enormous infant that has set its playthings going in the ‘right’ direction, for its own amusement.
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From 'The Star Diaries', 1957
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The most terrifying trait of evil is its unselfishness.
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From 'Sex Wars', 1996
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People are rather stupid than evil, although the results can be uncomfortably similar.
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From 'Fame and Fortune: Letters to Michael Kandel', 2013
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The opportunity for evil in itself does not suffice; people need a rationale as well.
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From 'The Futurological Congress', 1971
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Promo graphic for the Lem 2021 campaign, photo: Lem 2021 / AMI
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The intensity of a wish is more important than its fulfillment.
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From 'Highcastle: A Remembrance', 1965
Compiled by Brooke Weichel, Aug 2021