# Quote — Samuel R. Delany, They Fly at Ciron

> I have always tried to do what was right. But long ago I learned that being right was a brutal, cruel, and thankless position. Oh—I wish I could see you more clearly! If you pursue yourself in that manner, your friends will criticize you for it, call you a fool—as I have called you. But then, with only a few unhappy moments, I’ve always considered myself your friend. The things that made you hate me, I only did to shock you, to wake you up, to make you become yourself…

- Author: [Samuel R. Delany](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany.md)
- Book: [They Fly at Ciron](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/they-fly-at-ciron.md)
- Page: 203
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_R._Delany#They_Fly_at_%C3%87iron_(1993)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/they-fly-at-ciron/i-have-always

## More from this book

> Oh, I cannot tell you how the notion of eternity bores me—not to mention all the silly stories we are always making up to render the idea palatable!

p. 202 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/they-fly-at-ciron/oh-i-cannot.md)

> Oh, I assure you—I’m only a little outlaw. Don’t fear me, friend. I never broke any big laws. I just forget and do what I want sometimes, and discover it wasn’t what someone else wanted me to do.

p. 96 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/they-fly-at-ciron/oh-i-assure.md)

> I’ve always thought thinking about how to live was more important than thinking about after we die. One likes to assume death will take care of itself. It’s just a bit disconcerting to see so many other people putting so much energy into taking care of it for you. Life has always been such a surprise, death, I expect—even if it’s nothing—will be one too.

p. 199 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/they-fly-at-ciron/ive-always-thought.md)