"The American Dream has run out of gas. The car has stopped. It no longer supplies the world with its images, its dreams, its fantasies. No more. It's over. It supplies the world with its nightmares now: the Kennedy assassination, Watergate, Vietnam."
J. G. BallardTiny Panda Quotes
Quotes by J. G. Ballard
J.G. Ballard (1930-2009) was a visionary British author renowned for his dystopian narratives and exploration of the human psyche in the context of modern technology and urban landscapes. Born in Shanghai to British parents, his early experiences during World War II profoundly shaped his worldview and writing. Ballard's seminal works, including "Crash" and "Empire of the Sun," delve into the complexities of desire, trauma, and the surreal intersections of reality. His legacy endures as a profound influence on both literature and contemporary thought, challenging readers to confront the darker facets of civilization.
9 quotes found
"Memories have huge staying power, but like dreams, they thrive in the dark, surviving for decades in the deep waters of our minds like shipwrecks on the sea bed."
J. G. Ballard"Orwell's '1984' convinced me, rightly or wrongly, that Marxism was only a quantum leap away from tyranny. By contrast, Huxley's 'Brave New World' suggested that the totalitarian systems of the future might be subservient and ingratiating."
J. G. Ballard"Writing a novel is one of those modern rites of passage, I think, that lead us from an innocent world of contentment, drunkenness, and good humor, to a state of chronic edginess and the perpetual scanning of bank statements."
J. G. Ballard
"I take for granted that for the imaginative writer, the exercise of the imagination is part of the basic process of coping with reality, just as actors need to act all the time to make up for some deficiency in their sense of themselves."
J. G. Ballard
"Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages, or we remain mute."
J. G. Ballard
"The dream of empire died when Shanghai surrendered without a fight. Even at the age of 11 or 12, I knew that no amount of patriotic newsreels would put the Union Jack jigsaw together again. From then on, I was slightly suspicious of all British adults."
J. G. Ballard"Electronic aids, particularly domestic computers, will help the inner migration, the opting out of reality. Reality is no longer going to be the stuff out there, but the stuff inside your head. It's going to be commercial and nasty at the same time."
J. G. Ballard