When I was in high school, I used to keep a tiny notebook with me whenever I was reading a library book so that I could quickly jot down quotes I loved. Ray Bradbury broke me of this habit. I still remember the first time I was introduced to his work—the unsettling short piece “All Summer in a Day”. Every word was brilliant, and I quickly moved on to stories like “The Veldt”, “The Small Assassin”, and my favorite, “Homecoming”. Eventually I sought out his novels, but each book served me the same problem: they were so good, if I picked out my favorite quotes, I’d be copying them word for word.
Fortunately, I’ve just been waiting for today. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is all about sharing snippets, and I knew just the guy to turn to for inspiration. Here are ten of my favorite Ray Bradbury quotes.
Zen in the Art of Writing
I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.
Fahrenheit 451
The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.
Dandelion Wine
A good night’s sleep, or a ten minute bawl, or a pint of chocolate ice cream, or all three together, is good medicine.
From the Dust Returned
In the attic where the rain touched the roof softly on spring days and where you could feel the mantle of snow outside, a few inches away, on December nights, A Thousand Times Great Grandmère existed. She did not live, nor was she eternally dead, she … existed.
Death is a Lonely Business
Melt all the guns, I thought, break the knives, burn the guillotines—and the malicious will still write letters that kill.
The Martian Chronicles
“We won’t ruin Mars,” said the captain. “It’s too big and too good.”
“You think not? We Earth Men have a talent for ruining big, beautiful things.”
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Is Death important? No. Everything that happens before death is what counts.
A Graveyard for Lunatics
Once upon a time there were two cities within a city. One was light and one was dark. One moved restlessly all day while the other never stirred. One was warm and filled with ever-changing lights. One was cold and fixed in places by stones. And when the sun went down each afternoon on Maximus Films, the city of the living, it began to resemble Green Glades cemetery just across the way, which was the city of the dead.
The Halloween Tree
The wind outside nested in each tree, prowled the sidewalks in invisible treads like unseen cats.
Zen in the Art of Writing
But, you see, my stories have led me through my life. They shout, I follow. They run up and bite me on the leg—I respond by writing down everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go, and runs off.
Note: Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Be sure to check out her weekly post to find other participants.
Plucked from the Stacks 
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