“People have the right to call themselves whatever they like. That does...” — Octavia E. Butler Quote

“People have the right to call themselves whatever they like. That doesn't bother me. It's other people doing the calling that bothers me.”

“I'm comfortably asocial - a hermit in the middle of a large city, a pessimist if I'm not careful, a feminist, a black, a former Baptist, an oil-and-water combination of ambition, laziness, insecurity, certainty and drive.”

“The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.”

“At school I was always taller than the rest of my class, and because I was an only child, I was comfortable with adults but shy and awkward with other kids. I was quiet, bookish, and in spite of my size, hopeless at sports. In short, I was different. And even in the earliest grades, I got pounded for it.”

“And I have this little litany of things they can do. And the first one, of course, is to write - every day, no excuses. It's so easy to make excuses. Even professional writers have days when they'd rather clean the toilet than do the writing.”

“Why do I bother having all my stupid opinions? I mean, really, my ever evolving Balkan policy of the mid-1990s - what did I think was going to happen? That I was going to be supersubbed out of Oddbins and into the Foreign Office?”

“There are things that bother me. I try not to let them, but they do.”

“My mother, she didn't believe in praise. She'd never say anything was great. I think that's quite Northern, to not make people feel too good. I didn't mind if she was proud of me or not, it didn't bother me. I was never trying to please her.”

“The newly decorated theatres produced things like car parks and restaurants, so you could have a good night out, quite cheaply without all that bother of having to go somewhere else.”

“The media attention does not bother me. I am very happy that the media is at least interested in sports other than cricket.”

“Coaches will do what they can but it doesn't necessarily bother me. You are an international referee for a reason. If things like that are going to ruffle your feathers, don't bother doing the job.”