- Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money. -- Jules Renard
- Inspiration is the act of drawing up a chair to the writing desk. -- Anonymous
- There's more of yourself in a book than a play. That's why we know all about Dickens and not much about Shakespeare. -- Sir John Mortimer
- Nothing stops me writing except flu. -- Fay Weldon
- When a book leaves your hands, it belongs to God. He may use it to save a few souls or to try a few others, but I think that for the writer to worry is to take over God's business. -- Flannery O'Connor
- There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories. -- Ursula K. Le Guin
- Once a writer is born into a family, that family is doomed. -- Czselaw Milosz
- A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say. -- Italo Calvino
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Quoth the Writer
Feel like some quotes today? Hope you enjoy these:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
Those are great! More fodder for my quote addiction... ;)
I really like Flannery O'Connor's quote - mainly because I can be such a control freak. It's nice to be reminded I'm not in charge.
Love these. My family is most certainly doomed!
Here's another Flannery quote that I like: When people have told me that because I am a Catholic, I cannot be an artist, I have had to reply, ruefully, that because I am a Catholic I cannot afford to be less than an artist.
and this (from F) makes me laugh:
Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I'm always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it's very shocking to the system.
Obviously, I've not reached any pinnacle of writing since I have all my teeth :)
Man, I love all of these. Thanks for the inspiration as I head to my revising world.
Wonderful quotes. I really loved them all, but Ursula L.G really hit me. And the first one made me laugh.
Faith -- I marvel at how many quotable people are out there. I don't collect "stuff" of any kind, but I guess I'm a quote collector.
Jaye -- That quote seems like an especially good reminder today, when we are all worrying about promotion and how well the book sells.
Vijaya -- I love the last part of that FO'C quote, that she can't afford to be less than an artist. Ha, I have all my teeth, too, but I can't say they don't have a filling or two. I think she only wrote a couple of novels, didn't she?
Barbara -- Yes, quotes = encouragement, I think.
Lee -- The first one made me laugh, too -- rather ruefully. But, hey, at least we're not ridiculous, even if we're poor. I love the Le Guin one because I believe it. A friend and I were recently saying that if only two people were left in the world, they'd tell stories to each other.
I always enjoy quotes =) I particularly like the Flannery O'Connor and Italo Calvino lines. Thanks for sharing them.
If you don't send it out, for sure you won't sell it. -- I wish I knew who said this; might be a mash-up of lines from a bunch of people
I like that last one best! I immediately thought of Winni-the-Pooh.
This one from Steinbeck is one of my favorites: Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have dozen.
That last quote is fantastic!
Ruth -- Given that definition of a classic, wouldn't you REALLY love to write one?
Anne -- I've heard "Nothing ever sold in a desk drawer," too. Of course, we may have to revise that to "Nothing ever sold on a hard drive." :)
Bish -- I hadn't heard that Steinbeck quote. It's really encouraging!
Emily -- I love the idea that a good classic will INVITE rereading because we know it has more to say, rather than thinking it's something we should just read 'cause it's good for us.
Oh my. Now I feel guilty after reading "nothing stops me from writing but the flu" one. I really should be writing right now but I'm happily reading blogs!
Christina -- If we take that quote to heart and then get our flu shots, we should be unstoppable! Or, alas, out of excuses. :)
I'm a huge fan of quotes about reading and writing! I love "Inspiration is the act of drawing up a chair to the writing desk", but clearly Renard penned it before the internet was invented. ;) It's waaay easier to distract ourselves nowadays.
Great quotes. It's interesting about the playwrights vs. novel writers.
I love these. I agree with the one about a family being doomed if a writer is born into the family.
Ruth -- Haha, that's so right! Drawing the chair up to the writing desk is too often followed by opening up the web browser. :)
Medeia -- I agree. I'm not at all a playwright, but I guess there must be less of us in dialogue than in narration and description?
Janet -- My poor family. :) I think they escaped unscathed for the most part. Maybe I should ask them.
Very inspirational. Quotes take me to a different place where my dreams seem possible again.
Post a Comment