I started in this racket in the early '70s, and when I was president of the Science Fiction Writers of America, of which I was like the sixth president, I was the first one nobody ever heard of.

Quote by Jerry Pournelle

Topics: Jerry Pournelle Quotes

The Aztecs believe they started up in what's now New Mexico, and wandered for 10,000...

The Aztecs believe they started up in what's now New Mexico, and wandered for 10,000...

Because Tom Doherty and people like that are not stupid. If they could have streamlined...

Because Tom Doherty and people like that are not stupid. If they could have streamlined...

Somebody's always getting me to come lecture to their writing class, and I don't talk...

Somebody's always getting me to come lecture to their writing class, and I don't talk...

To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with...

To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with...

So, I guess the answer to your question is very few people can bring off...

So, I guess the answer to your question is very few people can bring off...

And meanwhile, the storytellers like me and Anderson, Silverberg... we tell stories. People like them....

And meanwhile, the storytellers like me and Anderson, Silverberg... we tell stories. People like them....

Asimov was the reason why we changed some rules in the SFWA, and I'm not...

Asimov was the reason why we changed some rules in the SFWA, and I'm not...

And in down times it shakes a lot of the bad SF out, a lot...

And in down times it shakes a lot of the bad SF out, a lot...

You see, I used to do a certain amount of market research by going to...

You see, I used to do a certain amount of market research by going to...

And that's another piece of advice I'll give junior writers; when you get to the...

And that's another piece of advice I'll give junior writers; when you get to the...

We do a hard fantasy as well as hard science fiction, and I think I...

We do a hard fantasy as well as hard science fiction, and I think I...

The importance of information is directly proportional to its improbability.

The importance of information is directly proportional to its improbability.

There were probably, what, 300 science-fiction members in the SFWA, of whom probably a hundred...

There were probably, what, 300 science-fiction members in the SFWA, of whom probably a hundred...

We're basically after Joe's beer money, and Joe likes his beer, so you better make...

We're basically after Joe's beer money, and Joe likes his beer, so you better make...

One the other hand, the publishing trend is ghastly, isn't it? Two hundred and something...

One the other hand, the publishing trend is ghastly, isn't it? Two hundred and something...

In any ethical situation, the thing you want least to do is probably the right...

In any ethical situation, the thing you want least to do is probably the right...

The hard part of writing at all is sitting your ass down in a chair...

The hard part of writing at all is sitting your ass down in a chair...

Heinlein never had a best-seller. Even, I think, with Stranger in a Strange Land, I...

Heinlein never had a best-seller. Even, I think, with Stranger in a Strange Land, I...

Write a lot. And finish what you write. Don't join writer's clubs and go sit...

Write a lot. And finish what you write. Don't join writer's clubs and go sit...

I think it takes about a million words to make a writer. I mean that...

I think it takes about a million words to make a writer. I mean that...