"Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty. This is known as "bad luck."

You may also like:

• 

  Arthur C. Clarke
  Film writer

• 

  Frank Herbert
  Author

• 

  Isaac Asimov
  Author

• 

  Philip K. Dick
  Novelist

• 

  Poul Anderson
  Author

• 

  Ray Bradbury
  Writer

• 

  Robert Silverberg
  Author

• 

  Roger Zelazny
  Writer

• 

  Ursula K. Le Guin
  Author