Ken Liu Quotes

We are defined by the places we hold in the web of others’ lives.

The truth is not delicate and it does not suffer from denial—the truth only dies when true stories are untold.

One has to be careful, whenever one tells a story about a great injustice. We are a species that loves narrative, but has been taught not to trust an individual speaker.

The 'silk' in silkpunk refers not to a source of power, but to an entirely different, expressive technology language.

If I end up having a novel that sells really well and that allows me to pay for health insurance and mortgage without having to work at a day job, that would be great.

A loyal servant does not think of things outside of his control.

But in a time of war, knowledge made interesting friendships. Soon, the scholars and the thieves were . . . well, thick as thieves.

Emperor, king, general, duke, ” he whispered to himself. “These are just labels. Climb up the family tree of any of them high enough and you’ll find a commoner who dared to take a chance.

The way I look at it is this: If you try to obey the law, and the judges call you a criminal anyway, then you might as well live up to the name.

Every act of communication is a miracle of translation.

The fact that we can never have complete, perfect knowledge does not absolve us of the moral duty to judge and to take a stand against evil.

There are many ways to say I love you in this cold, dark, silent universe, as many as the twinkling stars.

There is often no line between perfection and evil.

Time's arrow is the loss of fidelity in compression. A sketch, not a photograph. A memory is a re-creation, precious because it is both more and less than the original.

I've always thought it nonsense to believe something true simply because it was written in a book long ago.

As the wind continued to howl and groan through her decaying body, she began to sing her story.

A little self-doubt is a good thing, " said Jia, "but not excessive doubt. Sometimes we live up to the stories others tell about us.

There is far more happiness in a life that is your own than a life in which you are handed the lines to say and shown the gestures to make. Do not ever be ambitious.

Do you see how much power you have when you act without fear?

We are not defined by our individual loneliness, but by the web of relationships in which we’re enmeshed.