“Why did people ignore the lessons of history and their own senses, deny a law of life immutable as the seasons, and erect twisted barriers against it in their minds? He didn't know why, but they did. They wept for the goodness of half-imaginary yesterdays, yesterdays beyond altering, instead of anticipating and helping to shape the good of possible tomorrows.… — John Jakes Copy Share
The house burned an hour before midnight on the last day of April. The wild, distant ringing of the fire bells woke George Hazard.… — John Jakes Copy Share Image
Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish. — John Jakes Copy Share Image
No writer should minimize the factor that affects everyone, but is beyond control: luck. — John Jakes Copy Share Image
The first treasure California began to surrender after the Gold Rush as the oldest: her land. — John Jakes Copy Share Image
“Yet how strong was friendship? Could it banish disagreement over a fundamental issue of human liberty—as if the issue and the disagreement didn’t exist?” — John Jakes Copy Share Image
Be persistent. Editors change; tastes change; editorial markets change. Too many beginning writers give up too easily. — John Jakes Copy Share Image
Guilty she might be. But what human being was not? There were things in her past she needn't be ashamed of, things to be… — John Jakes Copy Share Image
Going after anything worthwile in life entailed risk, of course. A man of ambition and courage didn't let that stop or delay him. A… — John Jakes Copy Share Image
The pain comes from knowing that we have never been safe, and therefore will never be safe again. It comes from knowing we can… — John Jakes Copy Share Image
“He could never be anything more than what he was: the inheritor of weakness and unbridled emotion, a creature possessed by the past, and… — John Jakes Copy Share Image
