Alex Garland Quotes, born May 26, 1970, in London, England, is an English novelist, screenwriter, and director celebrated for his thought-provoking work across genres, from the cult novel The Beach (1996) to films like 28 Days Later (2002), Ex Machina (2015), and Annihilation (2018). A former aspiring journalist who transitioned to storytelling, Garland’s cerebral narratives explore human nature, technology, and existential questions, earning him acclaim as a visionary in sci-fi and speculative fiction. These 15 quotes—sourced from his novels, interviews, and public statements—reflect his insights on writing, creativity, human behavior, and the subversive power of storytelling, capturing his sharp intellect and restless imagination.
15 Alex Garland Quotes
- “If I’d learnt one thing from travelling, it was that the way to get things done was to go ahead and do them. Don’t talk about going to Borneo. Book a ticket, get a visa, pack a bag, and it just happens.” (The Beach, 2005, Penguin)
- “When you develop an infatuation for someone you always find a reason to believe that this is exactly the person for you. It doesn’t need to be a good reason.” (The Beach, 2005, Penguin)
- “It slightly depends on your perspective, but when I sit down to write a script, I’m not planning to write a script; I’m planning to make a film, and so I only see the script as being just a step there.” (Interview, industrialscripts.com, 2022-04-16)
- “Though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil, for I am the evilest motherfucker in the valley.” (The Beach, 2005, Penguin)
- “I think everything I write is from an atheist perspective. I mean, it’s partly from an atheist perspective because I’m an atheist, and I’m just not really interested in religious-based questions.” (Interview, BrainyQuote, n.d.)
- “Trust me, it’s paradise. This is where the hungry come to feed. For mine is the generation that travels the globe and searches for something we haven’t tried before.” (The Beach, 2005, Penguin)
- “My first attempt at writing was very unstructured and formless, with shifting points of view. I was trying to understand how long-form might work, and I realised I had something shapeless. It was a total car wreck.” (Interview, industrialscripts.com, 2022-04-16)
- “I do all this alone, everything I achieve, I achieve alone, because it’s my head I’m locked into, and I share this space with nobody but myself.” (The Coma, 2004, Riverhead Books)
- “When you encounter people in life—like a chance encounter at a bar or wherever you happen to be—you make these incredibly quick, quite intricate decisions about people based on very small amounts of coded information. We’re good at that.” (Interview, BrainyQuote, n.d.)
- “There’s this saying: in an all-blue world, colour doesn’t exist… If something seems strange, you question it; but if the outside world is too distant to use as a comparison then nothing seems strange.” (The Beach, 2005, Penguin)
- “I’m always pushing back against the last thing I did in some way, and some of that is restlessness and a sense of limited time.” (Interview, QuotesTogether.com, n.d.)
- “What I see in science is a lot of imagination referring to things that are fundamental to what we are. Our cells, our history, our future, our place in the universe, our lack of place in the universe. That’s poetry as far as I’m concerned.” (Interview, BrainyQuote, n.d.)
- “Escape through travel works. Almost from the moment I boarded my flight, life in England became meaningless. Seat-belt signs lit up, problems switched off.” (The Beach, 2005, Penguin)
- “The first draft of Ex Machina is extremely different than the finished film. That would be like 10% of the original draft stayed into the shooting script.” (Interview, BrainyQuote, n.d.)
- “I didn’t intend to be a novelist. I didn’t intend to be anything. I thought I’d be a journalist.” (Interview, QuotesTogether.com, n.d.)
Alex Garland’s quotes are a provocative blend of existential musings, creative defiance, and sharp observations, urging writers, filmmakers, and dreamers to act boldly, question norms, and embrace the chaos of human experience. Which quote sparks your imagination or challenges your worldview? Share it below and keep Garland’s visionary legacy alive!
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