Tag: authors

Pearls of Wisdom From Science Fiction

No matter what we experience in life there is always someone who has shared a pearl of wisdom that we can apply. The same is true of our pandemic life today. Here are some pearls of wisdom from science fiction books and authors. 

A space shot of sunrise over the blue planet is in it's own way is one of the pearls of wisdom for pandemic life

Beware

At war

Or at peace,

More people die

Of unenlightened self-interest

Than of any other disease”

― Octavia Butler

Nobody dares to solve the problems-because the solution might contradict your philosophy, and for most people clinging to beliefs is more important than succeeding in the world.

― Michael Crichton, State of Fear

The monsters don’t live in the belly of the world like they all say. The monsters live inside of us. We make the monsters.

― Kameron Hurley, The Stars are Legion 

All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.

― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

Arrogance and Conceit are the mother and father of a closed mind.

― Richard Nance, “Journey of the Chosen”

Just as every villain imagines themselves a hero, few heroes see when they’ve become the villain.

― Nicholas Tana

Fire is catching!” I am shouting now, determined he will not miss a word of it, “And if we burn, you burn with us!

― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.

—Isaac Asimov, Foundation

We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real,

—Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

I, for one, bet on science as helping us. I have yet to see how it fundamentally endangers us, even with the H-bomb lurking about. Science has given us more lives than it has taken; we must remember that.

—Philip K. Dick, The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick: Selected Literary and Philosophical Writings

You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.

Robert A. Heinlein, The Green Hills of Earth

 “If you think this Universe is bad, you should see some of the others.”

—Philip K. Dick

Now it’s your turn. Have you found a quote or quotes that give you some guidance or encouragement in this time? They don’t have to be science fiction pearls of wisdom for pandemic life. Add your quotes below. Let’s string a necklace of wisdom.

Who Does Your Greatest Success Look Like?

Who does your greatest success look like? Is it someone who has accomplished things, fame, made lots of money? Or are there other criteria you use to measure success?

It’s good to have goals for a day, a week, a month but what are your goals for your lifetime? Do you know who you want to be? 

If you read my post Inspiration on Location you know I discovered a unique institution. I researched the State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded near Lynchburg, Virginia. Synchronicity struck again. First, I learned about Carrie Buck (more on her later). Then I learned about the history of eugenics in the United States of America. Yes, you read that right. Eugenics, here. During my research, I learned about Better Baby contests. The competitions were part of a movement ’scientific motherhood’ to reduce infant mortality. 

This is the question I’ve pondered recently. During my reflections, I decided to look at female authors who have attained a level of success. I started with the Best Novelists of All Time on Ranker then went to the Best Selling Fiction Authors list on Wikipedia.

Best Female Novelists of All Time (adapted from Ranker)

  1. Virginia Wolfe, an English writer 
  2. Agatha Christie, DBE, an English novelist, short story writer, and playwright
  3. Jane Austen, an English novelist 
  4. George Eliot,  an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator
  5. Mary Shelley, an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer
  6. Charlotte Brontë, an English novelist and poet
  7. Flannery O’Connor, an American writer and essayist
  8. Daphne du Maurier, DBE, an English author and playwright
  9. J. K. Rowling, OBE FRSL, a British novelist
  10. Emily Brontë, an English novelist and poet 
  11. Margaret Atwood, CC OOnt FRSC is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist and winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and Prince of Asturias Award for Literature
  12. Mary Wollstonecraft, an English writer, philosopher, and advocate of women’s rights
  13. Margaret Mitchell, an American author and journalist
  14. Shirley Jackson, an American author
  15. Willa Cather, an American author
  16. Sylvia Plath, an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer
  17. Toni Morrison, an American novelist, editor, and professor and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature
  18. Anne Brontë, an English novelist and poet
  19. Doris Lessing, a British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer and short story writer and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
  20. Alice Munro, a Canadian author
  21. S. E. Hinton, an American writer winner of the inaugural Margaret Edwards Award
  22. Elizabeth Gaskell, a British novelist and short story writer
  23. Marguerite Yourcenar, a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist and winner of the Prix Femina and the Erasmus Prize
  24. Lois Lowry, an Newbery Medal award winning American writer
  25. Patricia Highsmith, an American novelist and short story writer
  26. Elizabeth Bowen, CBE was an Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer
  27. Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, a 19th-century German poet, author, and composer
  28. Anne Tyler, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and literary critic
  29. Dodie Smith, an English novelist and playwright
  30. E. Annie Proulx, an American journalist and author
  31. Diana Gabaldon, an American author
  32. Suzanne Collins, an American television writer and novelist
  33. Shirley Hazzard, an Australian author of fiction and non-fiction
  34. Ayn Rand, a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter
  35. Martina Cole, a British crime writer, businesswoman and occasional television presenter
  36. Elizabeth von Arnim, an Australian-born British novelist
  37. Karin Boye, a Swedish poet and novelist
  38. Linda Lael Miller, an American author of contemporary and historical romance novels
  39. Debra Webb, an American author of romantic suspense novels

Best Selling Female Authors (by # books sold)

  1. Agatha Christie
  2. Barbara Cartland
  3. Danielle Steel
  4. Enid Blyton
  5. J. K. Rowling
  6. Corín Tellado
  7. Jackie Collins
  8. Nora Roberts
  9. Janet Dailey
  10. Stan and Jan Berenstain
  11. Rumiko Takahashi
  12. Ann M. Martin
  13. Beatrix Potter
  14. Astrid Lindgren
  15. Debbie Macomber
  16. EL James
  17. Catherine Cookson
  18. Stephenie Meyer
  19. Anne Rice
  20. Judith Krantz
  21. Eleanor Hibbert
  22. Denise Robins
  23. Anne Golon
  24. Mary Higgins Clark
  25. Penny Jordan
  26. Patricia Cornwell

Who Does Your Greatest Success Look Like?

Do you have a success hero? Over the next few posts, I’ll explore the successes of these authors and those of the top science fiction and fantasy authors. We’ll discuss lessons we can take from them. Do any of these authors look like your greatest success hero? Are there women in other fields you consider your success hero?