Dystopian Science Fiction Quotes & Sayings

The Suitors Ball is fast approaching and it's a nasty reminder that my suitor will be chosen shortly. I feel sorry for the poor unfortunate guy, whichever one of them it happens to be. — Siobhan Davis

We are a species born from the planet. If the machines truly want to protect the Earth type planets they must learn to take care of us too.- Sun Wukong — Carolina Cody Aldaz

Broad shoulders fit snugly under his white shirt, and taut muscles flex in his arm as he grips a tray. He's not a muscle-bound freak though, thank God. I don't like that "I have boulders in my biceps" look that a lot of guys seem to favor these days. — Siobhan Davis

Our world must be hell, then. It must be the hell of some other place where all of us committed atrocious sins of some sort, and now we're stuck here until we die and either come back or are whisked off to some other hell. It couldn't be worse than this one, though. — Michael Monroe

Landon drops the bloody knife and stares at Summer like he doesn't even know her anymore. The truth is, she'll never be the girl she was seven months ago. Too much has happened. Too much has changed.
"Why'd you do that?" Summer cries.
"To save you," he says.
But there's nothing left to save. — Laura Kreitzer

What's a Laster? A dead man. — L.E. Sterling

Shunting closer, I snuggle into his chest, soaking up his fresh woodsy scent. His arms encircle me and pull me close. "You always smell like home," I whisper under my breath. Smooth, soft fingers tilt my chin upward, and I'm startled when my face meets his. Tears glisten in his eyes as he looks at me adoringly. Pressing his forehead to mine, he kisses me sweetly, his lips making brisk tantalizing sweeps across my mouth.
"My heart is your home," he whispers, his voice breathless. "It always will be. — Siobhan Davis

You didn't tell Summer about it, did you?"
"What?" Gage scoffs. "Yeah, telling your girlfriend the Angel of Death might visit her if some switch is flipped is normal pillow talk. — Laura Kreitzer

Well you know what they say. It's always raining somewhere. — Michael Monroe

A loud peel of laughter travels up my throat. Something out of the ordinary has finally happened, and it sends a spark of electricity directly to the dull lump in my chest. — Siobhan Davis

Dammit, Gage. What the hell were you thinking?"
"I wasn't," he shouts. "I was upset she wanted to stay, and I lost it."
Ethan scoffs. "Yeah, you did."
"I'm an idiot."
"Yeah, you are."
"Shut up. — Laura Kreitzer

Why won't you look at me?" she murmurs.
He doesn't speak, seemingly at a loss for words.
"It's my scars." It comes out as barely a whisper.
Horror spasms across his face. "What? No," he says, a bit breathless. "You're beautiful. All of you. — Laura Kreitzer

He is the biggest asshole on the planet," Jarod says. "And in a planet that's currently drowning in assholes, that's saying a lot. — Siobhan Davis

That's what you people do, isn't it? Make assumptions and sell them to impressionable idiots. — Michael Monroe

I never, as a reader, have been particularly interested in dystopian literature or science fiction or, in fact, fantasy. — Lois Lowry

Heaviness coats my brain, and I'm surprised at the turn in our conversation; we're getting into the deep stuff. "Right now, you and me? This feels like fate, if fate can be felt. — Siobhan Davis

You have to pull the feet to break the neck. They let the loved ones do it. — Pierce Brown

He places a hand on either side of the bar, locking me in. 'And why won't you admit it?' he asks.
I'm so startled by his new, gentler tone that I hazard a glance. My breath catches in my throat. Jared's eyes have changed to that sumptuous green, huge and mesmerizing, the pupils dilating like a cat's. I can't see to look away as he inches forward, until he's standing all but a hair's breadth away from me. — L.E. Sterling

If the world explore all my dark fantasy, will change for the better. — Alexandar Tomov

[ ... ]How can a great civilization have destroyed itself so completely?"
"Perhaps,"said Apollo, "by being materially great and materially wise and nothing else. — Walter M. Miller Jr.

A joke is a witticism or play on words that's meant to be funny. I say 'meant to be' because most jokes aren't funny. They range between mildly amusing and grimace-inducingly annoying. — Michael Monroe

I've got my own toilet." -- Grace Harper — Christine Amsden

Time keeps ticking away, unaware of the suffering each second generates. Time doesn't care, because if it did, it would've reversed. — Laura Kreitzer

I can't - won't do that to him," Summer says sharply. "Or to myself. Besides, your feelings for me aren't real. The Society did this to you. And if they did it to you, they probably scrambled my brain too. I can't trust that any of this is real. — Laura Kreitzer

You know what it is like to wake up in the middle of a bunch of corpses with a little girl in your arms scared to death?-Enyo — Carolina Cody Aldaz

A craving to crawl out of my skin hits me like a bullet to the chest. It's not a new sentiment. It's an urge I feel at least once every hour. A potent desire to be anyone but myself. To live any life but this one. — Siobhan Davis

Why aren't you smiling?" Cameron asks. She picks up the Astropad and stops the video.
"Because this is the beginning, not the end. — Laura Kreitzer

Ask very pointed questions. Sharp as sword blades, or laser blasts, if you catch my meaning. — Michael Monroe

I wouldn't change a thing. I want you. I'll always want you. — Siobhan Davis

Trust no one," said Sullivan, "especially Teachers. — A.J. Arias

The most important thing you can ever know, is that whatever your purpose is, that's not your only choice. — Dan Wells

Feeling lurks in that interval of time between desire and its consummation. — Aldous Huxley

Her mum is leaning against the wall, arms crossed, when Summer exits. "Gage left from here a few minutes ago," she says, tone neutral. "His hair was ruffled." She gestures with her hand above her head.
The haze Gage left Summer in vanishes. She frowns.
Her mum sighs and steps forward. Smooths her daughter's hair. "If he hurts you," she says in a mild tone, "I'll kill him. — Laura Kreitzer

Sometimes when we label something dystopian fiction, I feel like we're trying very hard not to use the words 'science fiction,' because science fiction has those horrible connotations of rocket ships and bodacious babes. — Paolo Bacigalupi

I work my way through the rest of my dates, but I'm only there in body. The boys usually give up after the first hour; it's difficult to have a conversation all by yourself. My ratings plummet, but at least my air-time is minimal now, I'm not offering much in the way of entertainment these days. — Siobhan Davis

Dreams deny her the freedom she truly seeks. Darkness consumes. Leg muscles burn. She runs away, even while lost in the paradise of sleep. Gravity is a crushing force bearing down on her chest, shattering wings and refusing her flight. A whisper in her mind. You don't belong here. — Laura Kreitzer

The Freaks are coming. — J.O. Young

I thought it was just him," she says, ignoring him. "But then I found out I had the same effect, which means the Society did something to my head too."
Gage's eyes close, horror washing over him. "You really do love him."
"Yes. No. I don't know." Her cries start up again, piercing his heart. "Gage, help me."
"I love you," he says, holding her closer. "That's real. — Laura Kreitzer

When I see your scars, do I want to erase them? Absolutely. But not your physical scars. The real ones, beneath the surface. The ones that compel you to stay silent or force you to cringe. Those are the scars I want to obliterate." His finger circles the dip of a burn mark on her forearm. "This is a battle trophy and nothing to be ashamed of. Every one of your scars makes you more beautiful to me. — Laura Kreitzer

I was able to bring the souls from the past back to life.-Amaranth — Carolina Cody Aldaz

Her gaze travels back to the lie twisted in a tempest of mud and blood. She witnesses the culmination of her recklessness through a curved lens. Absorbed in life uncoiling, unaware of the world beyond this ridge. His light hair, darkened by rain. His stiff shoulders, full of pain. The vision poisoned with truth. With rust-stained hues. — Laura Kreitzer

Even if such beauty wasn't meant to be in a world so fallen as ours, that didn't take away from its beauty. It only made it more beautiful. — Kyle West

I know I should look away but I can't. It's as if my eyes are superglued to him. — Siobhan Davis

For the first time, with complete clarity and absolute conviction, I know I love him entirely with all that I have, everything I am, and who I'm going to be. Of course, I've told him before, but not like this, not with the fierce swelling of love and fervent determination that I feel ebbing and flowing inside me, as vital as the air I breathe. Before - when I said it - it was borne out of immaturity, or necessity, or maybe just plain old lust. Now I radiate with the veracity of my love and this newfound truth that we really are meant to be. — Siobhan Davis

Seconds ebb and wane. She's not afraid of her voice anymore, but she's not entirely sure she trusts it. She's seen the damage caused with a single word. Right now, each one is a weapon, a conduit of war, and she won't just throw them out there all willy-nilly. — Laura Kreitzer

She bends over, whispering in my ear. "Have you ever been with a guy?"
"Yes," I say, even though that quick fumble with Luca Parry in the factory closet doesn't count for much. He was all grabby hands, sloppy mouth, and slimy tongue. It's an experience I'm in no hurry to repeat. Ugh. A severe shiver travels up my spine with the memory. — Siobhan Davis

You look exhausted," Logan says, his eyes raking over me. "Why don't you try and catch some sleep."
"All your nocturnal activities must be taking a toll," Haydn mutters not too discreetly under his breath.
"The same could be said for you," I retort, in no mood to ignore his renewed mean streak.
"That's rich coming from you."
"Haydn." How Logan can manage to convey such potent meaning with one word is sheer talent. And I'm eternally grateful, because it shuts Haydn up. — Siobhan Davis

I had evolved a year too soon, and it nearly broke me — Carlyle Labuschagne

Struggling transforms her captor into a Chinese finger trap. She's suffocating. Sucking in air without relief. Her lungs expand. Contract. Expand. They fill with lies and broken promises. With despair and lost hope. Each inhale is empty. Invisible hands reach into her body and constrict around her windpipe. She watches her friends collapse like supernovae, their cognizance disappearing into a black hole. A black hole she's quickly cascading into. The dark consumes, bleeds into her vision. She blinks. Catches icy blue eyes peeking out from the shadows. — Laura Kreitzer

He licks his lips as his head tilts down toward me. My body goes wild. Frissons of electricity travel up and down my spine as the True Born leans down. His voice is silk in my ear. 'You're not with your parents now. No restrictions. How does that make you feel? — L.E. Sterling

Haydn snorts. "Only gullible, lovesick fools spout that mushy crap." Thank the stars that his tone is teasing, because I can sense Logan's patience waning.
"When you find the right girl, I'm so going to make you eat your words. And I'm going to thoroughly enjoy rubbing your nose in it. — Siobhan Davis

Haydn's instructions are imprinted on my brain much the same way Logan's face is imprinted on my heart. — Siobhan Davis

When my stomach grumbled, I filled up on hamburgers, hot dogs, gyros, tacos, jerk chicken, pizza, and a side salad because I was watching my figure — Y.A. Marks

In 1890, Donnelly published Caesar's Column, a dystopian science fiction novel set in the far-off 1980s, when the United States had become a capitalist tyranny controlled by a ruthless Jewish oligarchy. — Arthur Goldwag

I would cry if I could, but instead I just feel my heart rip apart. — Siobhan Davis

For the first time she realized she'd spent so much time mourning a world that had ended ages ago, hoping to resurrect it, that she'd never paid attention to what it was becoming. Or returning to again, now that it was unfettered. Where were the centaurs, she might have asked instead. Where were the gorgons, the furies, the giants and the gods? — Brian Hodge

Let them come. We've got helicopters, tanks, jets, and big guns. We've got armies of robots. What do they have but their stench and the squalor they live in? — Michael Monroe

It's degrading being routinely subjected to a battery of medical tests to ensure I continue to deserve a place in this new world. — Siobhan Davis

Everyone has the right to believe whatever he or she wants. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans, atheitsts, and every other religion. People can follow whichever they choose. Even if you and I believe Christianity is the truth, we must allow others to choose their own beliefs. You can't force anyone to believe something they don't, anyway. — Michael Monroe

Shitting fucking bastard! Fuck off you massive cockwank!' - Misty Meanor, during a particularly stressful encounter. — Matthew Sylvester

Logan owns my heart, and he always will. Whether he is aware or not. Whether he wants it or not. That much I know with absolute conviction. — Siobhan Davis

He holds her for an eternity. Time cascades into the void of the past. She inhales his scent. Full of man and strength and yearning. And she wonders why she ever doubted their relationship. Why she let Julian's soothing touch coax her into loving him too. Gage is everything. Gage is hers. — Laura Kreitzer

I'm sorry, he says. No two words were ever truer.
Still, she says nothing. Once a shield, now her taciturnity is brandished like a blade, carving away his sanity. She's the flaw in the paragon of life - the reason angels choose to dive to their downfalls in fiery comets of stardust. — Laura Kreitzer

We all end up dying in the end. It's just a question of how and when. — Michael Monroe

Maybe the Society was right all along. From the very beginning, that's what they called her. A time bomb.
Tick, tick, tick. — Laura Kreitzer

A glacial chill rushes through Gage. He whips around just in time to see arms clutch Summer around the middle and drag her into the dark. Panic seizes him, and he takes off after her, regardless of the chaos brewing behind him. Her cry of surprise echoes all around them, drilling into his bones. — Laura Kreitzer

She feels him scoot closer, the heat of him radiating off his chest and absorbing into her skin. His legs straddle her from behind, and he places delicate kisses along her shoulder, her back, the very center of her spine. Each time is like an electric current surging through her, soul stirring and lovely. — Laura Kreitzer

My romantic history since arriving on Novo has been non-existent, but I don't know what, if anything, came before; thanks to the government's cerebral pilfering. — Siobhan Davis

That's one of our speculations, by the way. That the prior version of history that this one overwrote was horrible. Complete geopolitical mayhem; half of New York City is underwater. The United States is headed toward civil war, or ruled by an artificial-intelligence construct, or some such other thing. Real end-of-days stuff. That the instances of ourselves who existed in that history figured out what we have: that the invention of the causality violation device was the cause. That in that prior version of history, Rebecca did not die in a car accident. That she went back to the past on a mission, as a volunteer, well aware of her sacrifice. — Dexter Palmer

Ignoring the pain is more desirable than confronting it. And that's survival one-oh-one. — Siobhan Davis

I wish I was more experienced with boys, so that I could understand his intentions more clearly. I grimace inwardly when I think of much of an expert I'll be in a few months time. — Siobhan Davis

Avery slides on his glasses and opens his eyes again. "Dammit!" he says again with more feeling. "Why does stuff like this keep happening?"
"You say that as if it's a bad thing," Rob says, smirking. — Laura Kreitzer

You should've told me," she repeats. "Because here's a news flash: You might've wanted to shelter me, but there's nowhere you can hide me that'll keep me safe from what's inside my head. — Laura Kreitzer

It was one of those dreams from which she woke up depressed about her reality, filled with a longing that pulled at her insides, wishing the dream could have lasted forever, or at least much longer than it had. — Michael Monroe

Well one tiny poisonous spider can kill a very large man if it bites him in the right place. — Michael Monroe

Frown deepening, Jared bounces a hand off the chair arm. 'You know you're different, Princess. And it's not just because you're some fancy, spoiled rich girl. Hell, you don't smell like anyone else. Money can't buy that smell.' I assume he wasn't talking about my expensive perfume, which money did in fact buy. — L.E. Sterling

I wondered for a second why I cared so much, but I knew I did. I wanted to be more like the Upper-Cs. Not snobby or mean, but just a bit more. It was hard to explain, I just liked the thought of being dolled up and having a few nice things. — Y.A. Marks

Let your life be a song. Let music be the background of whatever human things you will do for this blazing, spinning planet, and never let go of the good, never let go of the kindness. — Logan Keys

He could argue a case for anything, but that doesn't change the fact he's wrong most of the time. — Michael Monroe

If the only option you leave poor people with is to resort to violence in order to survive, they'll do just that. And there are lots more poor people in this world than there are rich ones. — Michael Monroe

Time is a thief. A killer. Time is killing him. — Laura Kreitzer

A layer of fine powder coats his skin.
"My lungs are turning to concrete," Rob wheezes, hacking and spitting.
"So are my eyes. How do I always get roped into these things?" Avery coughs and pats Rob's back in sympathy. A poof of dust billows from the contact. — Laura Kreitzer

A lie of obsession is still a lie — Veronica Roth

Generalities are intellectually necessary evils. — Aldous Huxley

I would rather never make a penny on book sales and know that many had derived some fair pleasure from my writing, than to know that very few had ever taken a chance on my work. I certainly won't last forever, but I'd love to think that my imagination will continue to surface in the minds of others. — Eric Diehl

At the core of 'Star Trek' is Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future. So much of science-fiction is about a dystopian society with human civilization having crumbled. He had an affirmative, shining, positive view of the future. — George Takei

HAPPINESS FOR EVERYBODY, FREE, AND NO ONE WILL GO AWAY UNSATISFIED! — Arkady Strugatsky

I won't pressure you, Ari, but I'm not opposed to subtle acts of persuasion. — Siobhan Davis

I am chaos in this ordered society, the flaw in a carefully wrought plan. I am turbulence in the queen's eternal river. — Eugie Foster

Death and his scythe do not come. No sweeping black capes or ethereal escapes. There's no pearly gate, no prisms of colors as his soul slips away. The stillness is cold steel. The silence is empty with no memory to mend it. — Laura Kreitzer

There's a part of me that recognizes him on a cellular level, a part that seeks his comfort and solace, that feels more than comfortable in his arms. And when he stares at me with that deep penetrating gaze of his, my body reacts in all the right, and wrong, ways. — Siobhan Davis

Well, for one, you walk around like you're so much better than everyone else. We're all a bunch of soulless animals or somethin' in your eyes, I guess. You're the high and mighty one and I ain't fit to drink your piss. — Michael Monroe

My mind wanders and I drift off into La-La Land. I dream about Thalassic City. About opportunity. And second chances. About actually living. — Siobhan Davis

If this is my final moment," she says, "then I can die happy."
"Is that why you're saying all this? Because you think we're going to die?"
"I don't know," she admits.
"Dammit, Summer." He clings to her waist, grip desperate, eyes heavy with torment. "You're saying everything I want to hear, but I don't know if I can trust it. — Laura Kreitzer

The storage capacity of the average human brain is two-hundred and fifty-six exabytes. However, the average adult human only uses approximately one billionth of that storage space effectively. This means my knowledge capacity is approximately three thousand trillion times that of your average human. — Michael Monroe

... there are certain questions that must never be asked. Of anyone. Even oneself. — Jenny Lynne

All the definitions people want to put on you in terms of what kind of writer you are come with hidden meanings. If you're writing science fiction, you're writing rocket ships. If you write dystopian fiction, it's inequity where The Man must be fought. — Paolo Bacigalupi

Just in case you're wondering," Gage says, breaking the silence, "this alliance of ours doesn't mean I like you."
"Feeling's mutual." Julian tosses him a disdainful look. — Laura Kreitzer

Are you in any pain? (Ariana Skyee)
Only my heart. (Cal Remus) — Siobhan Davis

I'm not much of a liar. A hoarder, a hider: most definitely, yes, and sometimes I'm dishonest by default because I find it difficult to share that innermost part of myself with others. But never a conscious liar. I don't think I have it within me to deliberately mislead anyone. — Siobhan Davis