“Yet, my grandfather was not a monster. He was simply a man of ordinary moral courage whose capacity for great evil was revealed to his and my everlasting shame. Labeling someone a monster implies that he is from another world, one which has nothing to do with us. It cuts off the bonds of affection and fear, assures us of our own superiority, but there's nothing learned, nothing gained. It's simple, but it's cowardly. I know now that only by empathizing with a man like my grandfather can we understand the depth of the suffering he caused. There are no monsters. The monster is us.”

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About Ken Liu

American science fiction and fantasy author

Kenneth Yukun Liu is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards for his fiction, and 104 quotes are on the site under his name. His short fiction has appeared in a wide range of magazines and anthologies, including F&SF, Asimov's Science Fiction, Analog, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, Reactor, Uncanny Magazine, and several Year's Best collections. His work is closely associated with speculative fiction in magazine and anthology form.

More from Ken Liu (104 quotes) →

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Books by Ken Liu

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

2016

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The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty)

2015

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Hidden Girl and Other Stories

2020

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