Thursday, July 26, 2012

Quoth the Writer

Feel like some quotes today? Hope you enjoy these:
  • 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
Have you heard any good quotes lately?

    18 comments:

    Faith E. Hough said...

    Those are great! More fodder for my quote addiction... ;)

    Jaye Robin Brown said...

    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.

    Vijaya said...

    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 :)

    Barbara Watson said...

    Man, I love all of these. Thanks for the inspiration as I head to my revising world.

    cleemckenzie said...

    Wonderful quotes. I really loved them all, but Ursula L.G really hit me. And the first one made me laugh.

    Marcia said...

    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.

    Ruth Schiffmann said...

    I always enjoy quotes =) I particularly like the Flannery O'Connor and Italo Calvino lines. Thanks for sharing them.

    Anonymous said...

    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

    Bish Denham said...

    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.

    Emily R. King said...

    That last quote is fantastic!

    Marcia said...

    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.

    Christina Farley said...

    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!

    Marcia said...

    Christina -- If we take that quote to heart and then get our flu shots, we should be unstoppable! Or, alas, out of excuses. :)

    Ruth Donnelly said...

    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.

    Anonymous said...

    Great quotes. It's interesting about the playwrights vs. novel writers.

    Janet Smart said...

    I love these. I agree with the one about a family being doomed if a writer is born into the family.

    Marcia said...

    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.

    Unknown said...

    Very inspirational. Quotes take me to a different place where my dreams seem possible again.