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Dan Simmons Quotes

1948–2026 United States

Dan Simmons (April 4, 1948 – February 21, 2026) was an American science fiction and horror writer.

United States
Novelists
Science fiction authors
Short story writers

Random Dan Simmons quote

71 quotes

Never make unsupportable assumptions about your enemies, Martin. It can be a fatal self-indulgence.

The Rise of Endymion (1997)

Words are the only bullets in truth’s bandolier. And poets are the snipers.

Hyperion (1989)

Life is brutal that way...the loss of irrecoverable moments amid trivia and distraction.

Endymion (1996)

The future is never written...only penciled in.

Endymion (1996)

It no longer matters who consider themselves the masters of events. Events no longer obey their masters.

Hyperion (1989)

If one is to observe, M. Endymion, one must be in the proper place to observe.

The Rise of Endymion (1997)

“What?”
“Never mind. It will make sense when it comes about. All improbabilities do when probability waves collapse into event.”

The Rise of Endymion (1997)

Dogma and hierarchy are endemic to such structures...indeed, such are the structures of any theocracy.

The Rise of Endymion (1997)

If there is a true secret to the universe, it is this...these first few seconds of warmth and entry and complete acceptance by one’s beloved.

The Rise of Endymion (1997)

I heard the hiss and felt the blessed numbness spreading. If there is a God, I thought, it’s a painkiller.

Endymion (1996)

While I was obsessed with my own misery, there were other things occurring in the human universe.

The Rise of Endymion (1997)

Have you considered that these prophecies were not divine revelations, but merely manipulation from some secular power?

The Fall of Hyperion (1990)

“I ignore religions,” said Brawne Lamia. “I do not succumb to them.”

Hyperion (1989)

I was not surprised to wake up alive. I suppose one is surprised only when one awakens dead.

Endymion (1996)

I learned that poets aren’t God, but if there is a God...or anything approaching a God...he’s a poet. And a failed one at that.

The Fall of Hyperion (1990)

I thought—To lose all this forever?
And I hallucinated Aenea’s voice saying To lose all this forever is the essence of being human, my love.

The Rise of Endymion (1997)

Sol remembered the dream, remembered his daughter’s hug, and realized that in the end—when all else is dust—loyalty to those we love is all we can carry with us to the grave.

The Fall of Hyperion (1990)

Listen! There will be no more offerings, neither child nor parent. There will be no more sacrifices for anyone other than our fellow human. The time of obedience and atonement is past.

Hyperion (1989)

He knew what had to be done. It is not always the same as knowing what to do.

The Fall of Hyperion (1990)

Why am I seeking logic or sanity here? I'd asked myself at the moment. There hasn’t been any so far.

Endymion (1996)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Dan Simmons (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.