Bad writers have influences. Good writers steal.

Good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them outright.

— Aaron Sorkin

Most writers steal a good thing when they can, and when 'Tis safely got 'Tis worth the winning. The worst of 't is we…

— Bryan Procter

Mediocre writers borrow; great writers steal.

— T. S. Eliot

There are good writers and bad writers. It's hard to find writers who really speak to you, but the work is out there.

— Colson Whitehead

Only bad writers think they're good.

— Harlan Coben

All writers steal from their own lives.

— Brad Meltzer

The good stories, of course, write themselves. And somebody wants to know who are the really good writers, and how many of them there…

— R. A. Lafferty

Usually people who do bad things make good writers.I did a lot of bad things, which is why my novels are interesting.

— Jakucho Setouchi

I always think that good writers should be growing up on the brink of death - it really lets them see mortality very clearly.

— Gary Shteyngart

Good writers have two things in common: they prefer to be understood rather than admired; and they do not write for knowing and over-acute…

— Friedrich Nietzsche

Good writers are those who keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear.

— Ezra Pound

Well, you know when people are no good at anything else they become writers.

— W. Somerset Maugham

“Most good writers are good psychologists.”

— Rachel Ballon

All bad writers are in love with the epic.

— Ernest Hemingway

I always think the insecurity is going to go away, but it's always there. Only bad writers think they're good.

— Harlan Coben