[Ads-l] Quote: There ’s nothing to be learned from history any more. We =?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=99re_?=in science fiction now

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Fred has an entry about the quotation in the subject line in "The New
Yale Book of Quotations". The NYBQ notes that Allen Ginsberg received
credit for the quotation in a 1980 book. Here is a 1969 citation.

[ref] 1969, Allen Ginsberg in America by Jane Kramer, Part 2, Chapter
1, Quote Page 86, Random House, New York. (Verified with scans) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
"What I meant," Ginsberg said, "is that the past is bunk for people
now. All past consciousness is bunk. History is bunk. Like Henry Ford
said about technology—there’s nothing to be learned from history any
more. We’re in science fiction now. All the revolutions and the old
methods and techniques for changing consciousness are bankrupt. We’re
back to magic, to psychic life."
[End excerpt]

I found the above citation while working on an article about this
general theme. Below is an overview. Earlier citations (or interesting
citations) for this theme would be welcome.

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2023/05/16/science-fiction/
https://quoteinvestigator.medium.com/e35caa6f1f38

1954: We live in a science-fiction age. Yesterday’s fantasy is already
today’s fact. - Chester Whitehorn, Editor of short-lived "Science
Fiction Digest"

1957 Jan: The bizarre fact that we do live in a science-fiction world.
- Canadian Journalist James Cameron (not the moviemaker)

1968 Jun: We do live in a science fiction age. - John M. Connor, Librarian

1969: There’s nothing to be learned from history any more. We’re in
science fiction now. - Allen Ginsberg, Poet

1971: I have had the disturbing conviction that we are all living in a
science-fiction story. - Donald A. Wollheim, Science fiction editor

1974 May: We live in a science fiction age. - Leonard Nimoy, actor who
played Spock in “Star Trek”

1975: We live, indisputably, in a science fiction world. -  James E.
Gunn, Science fiction scholar and author (not the moviemaker)

1978: Everything is science fiction. And I ought to know. - Ric Ocasek
and Greg Hawkes, members of the rock group The Cars

1982: I think we’re living in a science fiction world right now. -
Isaac Asimov, Science fiction author

Acknowledgement: This article is dedicated to the memory of science
fiction fan and librarian extraordinaire Dennis Lien who asked
fascinating questions and helped QI on many occasions.

The text of the first citation in 1954 within "Science Fiction Digest"
is visible in snippets in Google Books, but the citation has not yet
been verified with hardcopy or full scans. "The Encyclopedia of
Science Fiction" indicates that the publication failed and only two
issues were published in February and May 1954. So the year is solid.
An unrelated "Science Fiction Digest" was published in the 1930s.

Garson O’Toole

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