Neil Gaiman - Art Matters: Because Your Imagination Can Change the World

I LOVE THE WAY WORDS AND
PICTURES WORK TOGETHER ON
A PAGE. I HAVE ALSO NOTICED
HOW WHEN WISE WORDS HAVE
VISUALS ADDED TO THEM, THEY
SEEM TO TRAVEL FURTHER
ONLINE, LIKE PAPER AEROPLANES
CATCHING AN UPDRAUGHT. NEILS
WORDS ARE SOME OF THE WISEST
IVE FOUND, AND THE RESPONSE
WHEN I ILLUSTRATE THEM AND
POST ONLINE HAS BEEN WONDERFUL.
IT IS AN EVEN GREATER PLEASURE
TO SEE THEM COLLECTED IN THE
PAGES OF A SMALL, ELEGANTLY BOUND
BOOK.

CHRIS RIDDELL

THE WORLD ALWAYS SEEMS
BRIGHTER WHEN YOUVE JUST
MADE SOMETHING THAT
WASNT THERE BEFORE

NEIL GAIMAN

I BELIEVE THAT IT IS DIFFICULT TO KILL AN
IDEA BECAUSE IDEAS ARE INVISIBLE AND
CONTAGIOUS, AND THEY MOVE FAST.

I BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN SET YOUR OWN IDEAS
AGAINST IDEAS YOU DISLIKE. THAT YOU SHOULD
BE FREE TO ARGUE, EXPLAIN, CLARIFY,
DEBATE, OFFEND, INSULT, RAGE,
MOCK, SING, DRAMATISE
AND
DENY.

I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT BURNING,
MURDERING, EXPLODING PEOPLE,
SMASHING THEIR HEADS WITH ROCKS
(TO LET THE BAD IDEAS OUT),
DROWNING THEM OR EVEN DEFEATING THEM
WILL WORK TO CONTAIN IDEAS YOU
DO NOT LIKE.

IDEAS SPRING UP WHERE YOU DO NOT EXPECT
THEM, LIKE WEEDS, AND ARE AS
DIFFICULT TO CONTROL.

I BELIEVE THAT REPRESSING
IDEAS SPREADS IDEAS.

I BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE AND BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS
ARE CONTAINERS FOR IDEAS, BUT THAT BURNING
PEOPLE WHO HOLD THE IDEAS WILL BE AS
UNSUCCESSFUL AS FIREBOMBING THE NEWSPAPER
ARCHIVES. IT IS ALREADY TOO LATE.

IT IS ALWAYS TOO LATE.
THE IDEAS ARE ALREADY OUT, HIDING BEHIND
PEOPLES EYES, WAITING IN THEIR THOUGHTS.

THEY CAN BE WHISPERED.
THEY CAN BE WRITTEN ON WALLS IN THE
DEAD OF NIGHT.

THEY CAN BE DRAWN.

I BELIEVE THAT IDEAS DO NOT HAVE TO BE
CORRECT TO EXIST.
I BELIEVE YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE PERFECTLY
CERTAIN THAT IMAGES OF GOD OR PROPHET
OR HUMAN THAT YOU REVERE ARE SACRED,
AND UNDEFILABLE,

JUST AS I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE CERTAIN
OF THE SACREDNESS OF SPEECH, AND
OF THE SANCTITY OF THE RIGHT
TO MOCK, COMMENT, TO ARGUE
AND TO UTTER.

I BELIEVE I HAVE THE RIGHT TO THINK
AND SAY THE WRONG THINGS.
I BELIEVE YOUR REMEDY FOR THAT
SHOULD BE TO ARGUE WITH ME OR TO
IGNORE ME.
AND THAT I SHOULD HAVE THE SAME
REMEDY FOR THE WRONG THINGS THAT
I BELIEVE YOU THINK.

I BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE THE ABSOLUTE
RIGHT TO THINK THINGS THAT I FIND

OFFENSIVE, STUPID, PREPOSTEROUS OR DANGEROUS,
AND THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK,
WRITE OR DISTRIBUTE THESE THINGS, AND THAT
I DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO
KILL YOU, MAIM YOU, HURT YOU OR
TAKE AWAY YOUR LIBERTY OR PROPERTY BECAUSE
I FIND YOUR IDEAS THREATENING OR
INSULTING OR DOWNRIGHT DISGUSTING.

YOU PROBABLY THINK SOME OF MY IDEAS
ARE PRETTY VILE TOO.

I BELIEVE THAT IN THE BATTLE BETWEEN
GUNS AND IDEAS, IDEAS WILL, EVENTUALLY,
WIN.
BECAUSE THE IDEAS ARE INVISIBLE, AND
THEY LINGER, AND, SOMETIMES,
THEY CAN EVEN BE
TRUE.

EPPUR SI MUOVE:

AND YET IT MOVES.

I SUGGEST THAT
READING FICTION, THAT READING FOR PLEASURE,
IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
THINGS ONE CAN DO.

IM MAKING A PLEA FOR PEOPLE TO
UNDERSTAND WHAT LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANS
ARE, AND TO PRESERVE BOTH OF THESE
THINGS.

IT IS OBVIOUSLY IN MY INTEREST FOR PEOPLE TO
READ, FOR THEM TO READ FICTION, FOR LIBRARIES
AND LIBRARIANS TO EXIST AND HELP FOSTER
A LOVE OF READING AND
PLACES IN WHICH READING CAN OCCUR.
SO IM BIASED AS A WRITER.
BUT I AM MUCH, MUCH MORE BIASED AS
A READER.
EVERYTHING CHANGES WHEN
WE READ.

PEOPLE WHO CANNOT UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER
CANNOT EXCHANGE IDEAS, CANNOT COMMUNICATE.
THE SIMPLEST WAY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE
RAISE LITERATE CHILDREN IS TO TEACH THEM
TO READ,
AND TO SHOW THEM THAT READING IS A
PLEASURABLE ACTIVITY.

I DONT THINK THERE IS SUCH A THING AS A
BAD BOOK FOR CHILDREN.

ITS TOSH. ITS SNOBBERY AND ITS FOOLISHNESS.

WE NEED OUR CHILDREN TO GET ONTO THE
READING LADDER: ANYTHING THAT THEY ENJOY
READING WILL MOVE THEM UP, RUNG BY RUNG,
INTO LITERACY.

YOURE FINDING OUT SOMETHING AS YOU READ
THAT WILL BE VITALLY IMPORTANT FOR MAKING
YOUR WAY IN THE WORD. AND ITS THIS:

THE WORLD DOESNT HAVE
TO BE LIKE THIS.

THINGS CAN BE DIFFERENT.

FICTION BUILDS EMPATHY.

FICTION IS SOMETHING YOU BUILD UP FROM TWENTY-SIX
LETTERS AND A HANDFUL OF PUNCTUATION MARKS,
AND YOU, AND YOU ALONE,
USING YOUR IMAGINATION, CREATE A WORLD,
AND PEOPLE IT AND LOOK OUT THROUGH OTHER EYES.
YOURE BEING SOMEONE ELSE, AND WHEN YOU
RETURN TO YOUR OWN WORLD, YOURE GOING
TO BE SLIGHTLY CHANGED.

I WAS LUCKY. I HAD AN EXCELLENT LOCAL
LIBRARY GROWING UP, AND MET THE KIND OF
LIBRARIANS WHO DID NOT MIND A SMALL,
UNACCOMPANIED BOY HEADING BACK INTO THE
CHILDRENS LIBRARY EVERY MORNING AND
WORKING HIS WAY THROUGH THE CARD CATALOGUE,
LOOKING FOR BOOKS WITH
GHOSTS OR MAGIC OR ROCKETS
IN THEM,
LOOKING FOR VAMPIRES OR DETECTIVES OR
WITCHES OR WONDERS.

THEY WERE GOOD LIBRARIANS. THEY LIKED BOOKS
AND THEY LIKED THE BOOKS BEING READ.
THEY HAD NO SNOBBERY ABOUT ANYTHING I READ.
THEY JUST SEEMED TO LIKE THAT THERE WAS
THIS WIDE-EYED LITTLE BOY WHO LOVED
TO READ, AND THEY WOULD TALK TO ME
ABOUT THE BOOKS I WAS READING.
THEY WOULD FIND ME OTHER BOOKS.
THEY WOULD HELP.
THEY TREATED ME WITH RESPECT. I WAS NOT
USED TO BEING TREATED WITH RESPECT AS AN
EIGHT-YEAR-OLD.

LIBRARIES ARE ABOUT FREEDOM.
FREEDOM TO READ, FREEDOM OF IDEAS,
FREEDOM OF COMMUNICATION.
THEY ARE ABOUT EDUCATION,
ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT, ABOUT
MAKING SAFE SPACES AND
ABOUT ACCESS TO INFORMATION.

I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT ALL BOOKS WILL OR
SHOULD MIGRATE ONTO SCREENS:
AS DOUGLAS ADAMS ONCE POINTED OUT TO ME,
OVER TWENTY YEARS BEFORE DIGITAL BOOKS
SHOWED UP, A PHYSICAL BOOKS IS LIKE
A SHARK.

SHARKS ARE OLD: THERE WERE SHARKS
IN THE OCEAN BEFORE THE DINOSAURS. AND
THE REASON THERE ARE STILL SHARKS AROUND IS
THAT SHARKS ARE BETTER AT BEING SHARKS
THAN ANYTHING ELSE IS.

PHYSICAL BOOKS ARE TOUCH, HARD TO
DESTROY, BATH RESISTANT, SOLAR OPERATED,
FEEL GOOD IN YOUR HAND:
THEY ARE GOOD AT BEING BOOKS, AND
THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A PLACE FOR
THEM.

A LIBRARY IS A PLACE OF SAFETY,
A HAVEN FROM THE WORLD.

ITS A PLACE WITH LIBRARIANS IN IT.