These people were the first to master a new kind of late twentieth-century life. They thrived on the rapid turnover of acquaintances, the lack of involvement with others, and the total self-sufficiency of lives which, needing nothing, were never disappointed.

— J.G. Ballard

The Thames Shouldered its way past Blackfriars Bridge, impatient with the ancient piers, no longer the passive stream that slid past Chelsea Marina, but a rush of ugly water that had scented the open sea and was ready to make a run for it.

— J.G. Ballard

The trouble with you people is that you've been here for thirty million years and your perspectives are all wrong. You miss so much of the transitory beauty of life.

— J.G. Ballard

The ultimate concept car will move so fast, even at rest, as to be invisible.

— J.G. Ballard

They thrived on the rapid turnover of acquaintances, the lack of involvement with others, and the total self-sufficiency of lives which, needing nothing, were never disappointed.

— J.G. Ballard

This was an environment built, not for man, but for man's absence.

— J.G. Ballard

Togetherness is beating up an empty elevator.

— J.G. Ballard

Tourism is the great soporific. It's a huge confidence trick, and gives people the dangerous idea that there's something interesting in their lives. It's musical chairs in reverse..... All the upgrades in existence lead to the same airports and resort hotels, the same piña colada bullshit. The tourists smile at their tans and their shiny teeth and think they're happy. But the suntans hide who they really are-- salary slaves, with heads full of American rubbish. Travel is the last fantasy the 2oth Century left us, the delusion that going somewhere helps you reinvent yourself.

— J.G. Ballard

Unhappy parents teach you a lesson that lasts a lifetime.

— J.G. Ballard

We have annexed the future into our present as merely one of those manifold alternatives open to us

— J.G. Ballard