--- title: "3 Creative process Quotes By Cormac McCarthy" description: "3 Creative process quotes by Cormac McCarthy. Plus more from Cormac McCarthy and more Creative process sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/cormac-mccarthy-181_authorship_creative-work-is-often-driven-by-pain-it_628097.jpg" --- > [“Creative work is often driven by pain. It may be that if you don't have something in the back of your head…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/creative-work-is-often-driven-by-pain-it-may-be-that-if-you-don-t/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/cormac-mccarthy-181_authorship_creative-work-is-often-driven-by-pain-it_628097.jpg) > [“I like what I do. Some writers have said in print that they hated writing and it was just a chore and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-like-what-i-do-some-writers-have-said-in-print-that-they-hated/) [Cormac Mccarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/cormac-mccarthy-181_creative-process_i-like-what-i-do-some-writers-have-said_1559094.jpg) > [“I never had any doubts about my abilities. I knew I could write. I just had to figure out how to eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-never-had-any-doubts-about-my-abilities-i-knew-i-could-write-i-just/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/cormac-mccarthy-181_ability_i-never-had-any-doubts-about-my-abilitie_1633212.jpg) ## Other authors on Creative process - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b013/author-john-kao-51706.jpg) John Kao 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-process/john-kao/) - [Laurie E. Smith 8 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-process/laurie-e-smith/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-abhijit-naskar-99.jpg) Abhijit Naskar 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-process/abhijit-naskar/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-twyla-tharp-92503.jpg) Twyla Tharp 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-process/twyla-tharp/) - [Kilroy J. Oldster 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-process/kilroy-j-oldster/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b014/author-julia-cameron-54149.jpg) Julia Cameron 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-process/julia-cameron/) ## More by Cormac McCarthy > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“The events of the world can have no separate life from the world. And yet the world itself can have no temporal view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-events-of-the-world-can-have-no-separate-life-from-the-world-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“I had two dreams about him after he died. I dont remember the first one all that well but it was about meetin him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-had-two-dreams-about-him-after-he-died-i-dont-remember-the-first/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You think people was meaner then than they are now? the deputy said. The old man was looking out at the flooded town. No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-think-people-was-meaner-then-than-they-are-now-the-deputy-said/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They set forth in a crimson dawn where sky and earth closed in a razorous plane. Out there dark little archipelagos of cloud and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-set-forth-in-a-crimson-dawn-where-sky-and-earth-closed-in-a/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Nothing. Where all was burnt to ash before them no fires were to be had and the nights were long and dark and cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/nothing-where-all-was-burnt-to-ash-before-them-no-fires-were-to-be/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [He said that whether a man's life was writ in a book someplace or whether it took its form day by day was one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-said-that-whether-a-man-s-life-was-writ-in-a-book-someplace-or/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“He lives in a room above a courtyard behind a tavern and he comes down at night like some fairybook beast to fight with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-lives-in-a-room-above-a-courtyard-behind-a-tavern-and-he-comes/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Ultimo hombre. Last man standing, must've been one. Where'd he go?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/ultimo-hombre-last-man-standing-must-ve-been-one-where-d-he-go/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/to-seek-out-the-upright-no-fall-but-preceded-by-a-declination-he-took/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Night fell upon them dark and starblown and the wagon grew swollen near mute with dew. On their chairs in such black immobility these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/night-fell-upon-them-dark-and-starblown-and-the-wagon-grew-swollen/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group - bacteria, mice, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i-learned-that-in-making-their/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [ “We none of us knew him to speak \[Dutch\]. Asked him where he'd learned it you know what he said? What did he say.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/we-none-of-us-knew-him-to-speak-dutch-asked-him-where-he-d-learned-it/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You know that the things you put it your head stay there, right?' 'Yeah. But you remember some things, don't you?' 'Yeah. You remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-know-that-the-things-you-put-it-your-head-stay-there-right-yeah/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-process/cormac-mccarthy/#itemlist", "name": "3 Creative process Quotes By Cormac McCarthy", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Creative work is often driven by pain. It may be that if you don't have something in the back of your head driving you nuts, you may not do anything. It's not a good arrangement. If I were God, I wouldn't have done it that way. 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