Talk:Philip K. Dick

There are some problems with the attributions on the current page. I don't believe the sources are entirely accurate. The quotes and sources need to be verified. For example, the quote, "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away," is attributed to the book Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?. IIRC, VALIS is the correct reference. --Viriditas 10:17, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)

It's from "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon", actually. I'll fix it. Extended quote follows below. --Hooloovoo 21:51, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

She wanted a one-sentence answer. I thought about it and finally said, "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." That's all I could come up with. That was back in 1972. Since then I haven't been able to define reality any more lucidly.

Unsourced quotes

I am very sure to have come across the first unsourced quote in the book with essays and stuff that Vintage published. Could somebody check? I am also relatively sure that the second one is not from Dick, but from someone he quoted. Don't know where, so I leave it as it is for now.

Added

I've added a number of quotes to the page, and also provided a source for the "giving a cretin a gun" remark (as well as correcting the wording).

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.

This quote has two variant sources in the article, and in a quick google search have found anothers. I don't have the time to track it down right now, but conceivably, he could have used the line more than once, and I have left it as it was for now. ~ Kalki 23:49, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

The quote definitely appears in Valis. Incidentally, there is a Post It (R) type of note from RPG Inc. that goes "Reality is what refuses to go away once you stop believing in it" 24.68.96.157 08:27, 17 March 2006 (UTC)Wim Borsboom

Quote Seen Elsewhere

"Don't try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night."

The quote is sourced:

• "What The Dead Men Say" (1964)

I haven't read it, but I'm sure its there as its quoted in several places accross the web, but I've also seen that quote used in another one of Philip K. Dick's books that I read, but I can't remember which. If anyone is reading any of these books its also quoted in one of these, but I'm not sure which: Voices from the Street, The Minority Report and other Stories, Dr. Bloodmoney, The Man in the High Castle or the Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.