"“We may suffer for it when the balance of things rights itself, but we do not lose hope and forego art and forget the words of the Making. Nature is not unnatural. This is not a righting of the balance, but an upsetting of it. There is only one creature who can do that.” “A man?” Arren said, tentative. “We men.” “How?” “By an unmeasured desire for life.” “For life? But it isn’t wrong to want to live?” “No. But when we crave power over life—endless wealth, unassailable safety, immortality—then desire becomes greed. And if knowledge allies itself to that greed, then comes evil. Then the balance of the world is swayed, and ruin weighs heavy in the scale.”"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Fantasy authorsScience fiction authors from the United StatesEssayists from the United StatesChildren's authors20th-century poets from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Chapter 3, "Hort Town" (Ged and Arren)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin (21 October 1929 – 22 January 2018) was an American writer, known mostly for her work in science fiction and fantasy. She received the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Locus Award, and World Fantasy Award, and was made a Grandmaster of Science Fiction in 2003.
327 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Ursula K. Le Guin →
Related Quotes
"Uninfluenced by others, he never knew he influenced them; he had no idea they liked him."
"Suffering is dysfunctional, except as a bodily warning against danger. Psychologically and socially it’s merely destr…"
"It is of the nature of idea to be communicated: written, spoken, done. The idea is like grass. It craves light, likes…"
"To claim power over what you do not understand is not wise, nor is the end of it likely to be good."
"Aye. Like knows like, sister"
"O foolish writer. Now moves. Even in storytime, dreamtime, once-upon-a-time, now isn’t then."
"I can never get used to the fact, though I know it, that women are born cynics. Men have to learn cynicism. Infant gi…"
"In general I evade “virtual experiences,” which were always recorded in better weather than it is today and which tak…"
"The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next."
"Greed puts out the sun."