WIST Quotations

Card, Orson Scott -- Alvin Journeyman, ch. 1 (1996)

Dave — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:21:44 +0000

And if you’re going to criticize me for not finishing the whole thing and tying it up in a bow for you, why, do us both a favor and write your own damn book, only have the decency to call it a romance instead of a history, because history’s got no bows on it, only frayed ends of ribbons and knots that can’t be untied. It ain’t a pretty package, but then it’s not your birthday that I know of so I’m under no obligation to give you a gift.

Orson Scott Card (b. 1951) American author
Alvin Journeyman, ch. 1 (1996)

Full text.

Card, Orson Scott -- Ender’s Shadow, ch. 21 (1999)

Dave — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 18:48:30 +0000

Bean longed to be able to talk these things over with someone — with Nikolai, or even with one of the teachers. It slowed him down to have his own thoughts move around in circles — without outside stimulation it was hard to break free of his own assumptions. One mind can think only of its own questions; it rarely surprises itself.

Orson Scott Card (b. 1951) American author
Ender’s Shadow, ch. 21 (1999)
(Source)

Card, Orson Scott -- Speaker for the Dead (1986)

Dave — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 15:21:40 +0000

This is how humans are: We question all our beliefs, except for the ones we really believe, and those we never think to question.

Orson Scott Card (b. 1951) American author
Speaker for the Dead (1986)
(Source)

Card, Orson Scott -- Essay (1991-03), “Games with No Limits,” Compute Magazine, No. 127

Dave — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 11:12:24 +0000

If we game players wanted to have an experience controlled by somebody else, we could rent a videotape. Gamewrights should try to empower us as players, not limit us unnecessarily. Someone at every game design company should have a fulltime job of saying, “Why aren’t we letting the player decide that?” […] When they let such unnecessary limitations creep into a game, gamewrights reveal that they don’t yet understand their own art. They’ve chosen to work with the most liberating of media — and yet they snatch back with their left hand the freedom they offered us with their right.
Remember, gamewrights, the power and beauty of the art of gamemaking is that you and the player collaborate to create the final story. Every freedom that you can give to the player is an artistic victory. And every needless boundary in your game should feel to you like failure.

Orson Scott Card (b. 1951) American author
Essay (1991-03), “Games with No Limits,” Compute Magazine, No. 127
(Source)