Paolo Bacigalupi Quotes

I'm writing for my ideal reader, for somebody who's willing to take the time, who's willing to get lost in a new world, who's willing to do their part. But then I have to do my part and give them a sound and a voice that they believe in enough to keep going.

I don't bring expectations to any of my books. I don't tell people what to do. I want to invite them in.

It's only through listening that you learn, and I never want to stop learning.

Being intellectually hospitable is a virtue that I bring into the interview space.

I write books that seem more suitable for children, and that's OK with me. They are a better audience and tougher critics. Kids tell you what they think, not what they think they should think.

Readers are what it's all about, aren't they? If not, why am I writing?

Listen to other people tell their story, but don't believe them. You know that it's just a story that is only true for them, but listen because the communication can be wonderful.

Reading, like writing, is a creative act. If readers only bring a narrow range of themselves to the book, then they'll only see their narrow range reflected in it.

When I wrote 'The Interestings,' I wanted to let time unspool, to give the book the feeling of time passing. I had to allow myself the freedom to move back and forth in time freely, and to trust that readers would accept this.

I hope that people will get to know me and give me the opportunity to get to know them and just respect what I'm doing because I respect how they feel and their thoughts as well.

I have an increasingly strong feeling that all of us, myself included, too many times make too many statements and don't ask enough questions.

We must seek to understand the intent of communication without prejudging or rejecting the content... Communication, after all, is not so much a matter of intellect as it is of trust and acceptance of others, of their ideas and feelings, acceptance of the fact that they're different, and that from their point of view, they are right.

Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head.

A love of reading shows empathy, the desire to understand how others live or act or might act - and why.

That's what art is about: to create dialogue. Everybody deserves to have their own opinion.

I've learned how to trust someone else's ideas with mine.

My biggest source of inspiration is listening to people's conversations. I'm a big eavesdropper.

When you talk about a reader being emotionally moved, a feeling of empathy, I think that comes out of that line-by-line respect for reader. That's actually where it all comes from.

If your mind isn't open, keep your mouth shut too.

There is really no way we can know the heart, the intentions, or the circumstances of someone who might say or do something we find reason to criticize. Thus the commandment: 'Judge not.'

What I've really learned is to be open to listen to other people's opinions and then question my own thoughts. And learn how to talk to people. The biggest gift from having one of these moments is that it gets people talking.

Instead of making others right or wrong, or bottling up right and wrong in ourselves, there's a middle way, a very powerful middle way...... Could we have no agenda when we walk into a room with another person, not know what to say, not make that person wrong or right? Could we see, hear, feel other people as they really are? It is powerful to practice this way..... true communication can happen only in that open space.

If I could but know his heart, everything would become easy.

Asking the proper question is the central act of transformation!

I always want to try and see what the appeal is in anything. It's the healthiest and most honest approach.