Rod Serling, full name Roodman Edward Serling, 25th December 1975 was an American playwright, screenwriter, television producer, and narrator for live television dramas and his anthology television series, “The Twilight Zone 1959-1964.” Serling served in the United States Army during World War II. He started writing scripts for Cincinnati radio and TV stations while still A student at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, (B.A, 1950).
Rod began selling television dramas and became one of the leading writers over the next four years. He won an Emmy Award in 1955 for his fascinating script patterns, A similar award in 1957 for his script “Requiem for A Heavyweight,” and A story of the ruthless business executives in 1955. His dramas were very controversial and despite his protests, his scripts including The Rank and File (1959), “A Town Has Turned to Dust (1958),” about Lynching, and more were extensively revised by the CBS-TV censors.
After battling with the censors, he abandoned writing realistic scripts and narrate the science-fiction anthology series “The Twilight Zone” which became popular for its incredible moral lessons and plot twists. Below are the most educative and refreshing quotes about Rod Serling to make your day
Rod Serling Quotes
1. “There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy … The pity of it is, these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone.”– Rod Serling
2. “Every writer is a frustrated actor who recites his lines in the hidden auditorium of his skull.”– Rod Serling
3. “There is a fifth dimesion, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimesion as vast as space and as timeless Aas infinity. It is in the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.”– Rod Serling
4. “If survival calls for the bearing of arms, bear them you must. But the most important part of the challenge is for you to find another means that does not come with the killing of your fellow man.”– Rod Serling
5. “It is difficult to produce A television documentary that is both incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper.”– Rod Serling
6. “The ultimate obscenity is not caring, not doing something about what you feel, not feeling! Just drawing back and drawing in; becoming narcissistic.”– Rod Serling
7. “And what I further don’t understand is how little you appreciate the nature of your departure. Think of all the poor souls who go in violent accidents.”– Rod Serling
8. “It may be said with a degree of assurance that not everything that meets the eye is as it appears.”– Rod Serling
9. “You see. No shock. No engulfment. No tearing asunder. What you feared would come like an explosion is like a whisper. What you thought was the end is the beginning.”– Rod Serling
10. “The worst aspect of our time is prejudice…In almost everything I’ve written, there is a thread of this – man’s seemingly palpable need to dislike someone other than himself.”– Rod Serling
11. “Some people possess talent, others are possessed by it. When that happens, a talent becomes a curse.”– Rod Serling
12. “There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is A dimension As vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition.”– Rod Serling
13. “You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: A dimension of sound, A dimension of sight, A dimension of mind.”– Rod Serling
14. “This highway leads to the shadowy tip of reality: you’re on a through route to the land of the different, the bizarre, the unexplainable…Go As far as you like on this road. Its limits are only those of mind itself.”– Rod Serling
15. “Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible.”– Rod Serling
16. “I think I would like to be in Victorian times. Small town. Bandstands. Summer. That kind of thing. Without disease.”– Rod Serling
17. “You’re traveling through another dimension, A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead – your next stop, the Twilight Zone.”– Rod Serling
18. “I write much better in the nonconfines of the early morning than I do the clutter of the day.”– Rod Serling
19. “If survival calls for the bearing of arms, bear them you must. But the most important part of the challenge is for you to find another means that does not come with the killing of your fellow man.”– Rod Serling
20. “I’m A Western-cultured man who subscribes to the ancient saw that men do not cry, I don’t cry either. I’ll go to a movie, for example, and not infrequently something triggers the urge to weep, but I don’t allow myself.”– Rod Serling
21. “I grew up in A single family household and when you decide to go to the wall on your first project you really want to go with material that you’re passionate about and I think that is one of the reasons I felt so compelled to make this film.”– Rod Serling
22. “If you have the temerity to try to dramatize A theme that involves any particular social controversy currently extant. . . then you’re in deep trouble.”– Rod Serling
23. “I’m an affluent screenwriter and all that – I’m A known screenwriter, but I’m not in the fraternity of the very, very major people. I would say a guy like Ernie Lehman, William Goldman, and A few others are quite A cut above.”– Rod Serling
24. “You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into A land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into… the Twilight Zone.”– Rod Serling
25. “The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices . . . . And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone.”– Rod Serling
26. “It feels like I’m babysitting in the Twilight Zone. I keep waiting for the parents to show up because we are out of chips and diet cokes.”– Rod Serling
27. “Every writer is A frustrated actor who recites his lines in the hidden auditorium of his skull.”– Rod Serling
28. “Every man is put on earth, condemned to die. Time and method of execution unknown.”– Rod Serling
29. “We are not permitted to forewarn them. you, Mr. Bookman, fall into the category of natural causes.”– Rod Serling
30. “For civilization to survive, the human race has to remain civilized.”– Rod Serling
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31. “Someplace between apathy and anarchy is the stance of the thinking human being; he does embrace a cause; he does take a position, and can’t allow it to become business as usual. Humanity is our business.”– Rod Serling
32. “I’m afraid that if I started to ponder who I am and what I am, I might not like what I find.”– Rod Serling
33. “(on being born on Christmas Day, 1924) I was a Christmas present that was delivered unwrapped.”– Rod Serling
34. “If you need drugs to be A good writer, you are not a good writer.”– Rod Serling
35. “It’s simply a national acknowledgment that, in any kind of priority, the needs of human beings must come first. Poverty is here and now. Hunger is here and now. Racial tension is here and now. Pollution is here and now. These are the things that scream for a response.”– Rod Serling
36. “I happen to think that the singular evil of our time is prejudice. It is from this evil that all other evils grow and multiply. In almost everything I’ve written, there is a thread of this man’s seemingly palpable need to dislike someone other than himself.”– Rod Serling
37. “According to the Bible, God created the heavens and the Earth. It is man’s prerogative – and woman’s – to create their own particular and private hell.”– Rod Serling
38. “A sickness known as hate; not A virus, not a microbe, not a germ – but a sickness nonetheless, highly contagious, deadly in its effects. Don’t Look for it in the Twilight Zone – Look for it in a mirror. Look for it before the light goes out altogether.”– Rod Serling
39. “The writer’s role is to menace the public’s conscience. He must have A position, A point of view. He must see the arts as a vehicle of social criticism and he must focus on the issues of his time.”– Rod Serling
40. “As long As they talk about you, you’re not really dead, As long As they speak your name, you continue. A legend doesn’t die, just because the man dies.”– Rod Serling
41. “Formerly, A fixture of the summer, formerly A rather minor component to a hot July, but throughout his life, A man beloved by the children, and therefore A most important man.”– Rod Serling
42. “There is nothing in the dark that isn’t there when the lights are on.”– Rod Serling
43. “If you write, fix pipes, grade papers, lay bricks or drive a taxi – do it with A sense of pride. And do it the best you know how.”– Rod Serling
44. “In his grave, we praise him for his decency – but when he walked among us, we responded with no decency of our own.”– Rod Serling
45. “Being like everybody is the same as being nobody.”– Rod Serling
46. “If in any quest for magic, in any search for sorcery, witchery, legerdemain, first check the human spirit.”– Rod Serling
47. “You see, we can feed the stomach with concentrates, we can supply microfilm for reading, recreation, even movies of A sort, we can pump oxygen in, and waste material out, but there’s one thing we can’t simulate. That’s a very basic need. Man’s hunger for companionship. The barrier of loneliness, that’s one thing we haven’t licked yet.”– Rod Serling
48. “Coming up with ideas is the easiest thing on earth. Putting them down is the hardest.”– Rod Serling
49. “The place is here; the time is now, and the journey into the shadows that we’re about to watch could be our journey.”– Rod Serling
50. “We’re developing a new citizenry. One that will be very selective about cereals and automobiles, but won’t be able to think.”– Rod Serling
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Video: 11 Times The Twilight Zone Predicted The Future
Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone hit the mark when it comes to our fears about technology and the future. In this clip, we examine what predictions from 50 years ago came true.
The original series explored a range of topics such as space travel, our prides and prejudices, and the social evils of the time. This video will take a look at some past classic episodes to see what they got right, and 11 times The Twilight Zone predicted the future.
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Summary
Apart from using “The Twighlight Zone” to express his opinions, Serling was also very active in politics and his strong opinions about using military force came from when he was a soldier. His division fought against the Japanese in the 1944 war in the Philippines.
The theme of antiwar was featured in his writings making him an outspoken antiwar activist, especially, during the Vietnam War. The above Rod Serling quotes are very informative. Note down your best Rod Serling quote where you can always draw inspiration.
Image Credit: “Rod Serling” by meltwater is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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