A novelist is someone who sits around the house all day in his underwear, trying not to smoke. — Scott Spencer Copy Share Image
I only became a novelist because I thought I had missed my chance to become a historian. — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
I'm not a novelist, I'm a storyteller. There is no art in what I do, no mystique. — Alistair Maclean Copy Share Image
Being an unpublished novelist has about as much social acceptability as being a shopping bag lady. — James Frey Copy Share Image
The next time the novelist rings the bell I will not stir though the meeting-house burn down. — Henry David Thoreau Copy Share Image
Every novelist should write something for children at least once in his lifetime. — Henryk Sienkiewicz Copy Share Image
Novelists are stamina merchants, grinders, nine-to-fivers, and their career curves follow the usual arc of human endeavour. — Martin Amis Copy Share Image
Reviewers do not read books with much care . . . their profession is more given to stupidity and malice and literary… — Anthony Burgess Copy Share Image
Writing tends to be very deliberate. A novelist could probably run a military campaign with some success. They could certainly run a… — Colm Toibin Copy Share Image
If the novelist isn't surprised by where his book ends up, he or she probably hasn't written anything worth remembering. — Tom Robbins Copy Share Image
Many thousands of people have had the experience of finding the first friend, and it is none the less a wonder; as… — C. S. Lewis Copy Share Image
Here's a secret. Many novelists, if they are pressed and if they are being honest, will admit that the finished book is… — Michael Cunningham Copy Share Image
A novelist should make you realize nothing is stable. If you don't believe anything with robustness, you're doing something more radical than… — Howard Jacobson Copy Share Image
The idea of being a novelist is really romantic, but it's kind of the same as being president of the United States… — Richard Paul Evans Copy Share Image
The right to life means that a man has the right to support his life by his own work (on any economic… — Ayn Rand Copy Share Image
One decision I made in writing 'Henry and Clara' was that I would keep Lincoln's appearances and any dialogue by him to… — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
I certainly wake up every morning and thank God that I'm not a novelist because the theater is tough, but novel writing… — Tony Kushner Copy Share Image
Many novelists take well-defined, precise characters, whose stories are sometimes of mediocre interest, and place them in an important historical context, which… — Raymond Queneau Copy Share Image
At any rate, that’s how I started running. Thirty three—that’s how old I was then. Still young enough, though no longer a… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
In learning to pay respectful attention to one another and plants and animals, we relearn the acts of empathy, and thus humility… — William Kittredge Copy Share Image
I did want to become a novelist, but the program at Waseda was pretty intense in terms of language requirements - two… — Hirokazu Koreeda Copy Share Image
I really think more fledgling novelists - and many current and even established novelists - should get out into the real world… — C. J. Box Copy Share Image
The old world is dying, but a new world is being born. It generates inspiration from the chaos that beats upon us… — Carlos Bulosan Copy Share Image
Coming up with lectures is a huge amount of work. I was willing to do one lecture for Gresham because I was… — Neal Stephenson Copy Share Image
When a novelist manages to describe or evoke something you thought or felt, without realizing that other people also found themselves in… — Elif Batuman Copy Share Image
Ask yourself why totalitarian dictatorships find it necessary to pour money and effort into propaganda for their own helpless, chained, gagged slaves,… — Ayn Rand Copy Share Image
Through books you will meet poets and novelists whose creations will fire your imagination. You will meet the great thinkers who will… — Neil Armstrong Copy Share Image
..there is need for a person to be generally educated. Otherwise you shrivel up much too soon. Whether this means reading the… — Peter Drucker Copy Share Image
How much can we ever know about the love and pain in another's heart? How much can we hope to understand those… — Orhan Pamuk Copy Share Image
What makes the Southern Poverty Law Center particularly odious is its habit of taking legitimate conservatives and jumbling them with genuine hate… — Don Feder Copy Share Image
As a novelist, I'm endlessly fascinated by human behavior and interactions. — Juliet Marillier Copy Share Image
Where does any novelist pick up any character? For the most part, in town, to be sure. — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
I'm a novelist. I think fiction is important or I wouldn't be doing it, but most of it's bad. — Dale Peck Copy Share Image
A novelist is on the cusp between someone who knows everything and someone who knows nothing. — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
