Writer Quotes · Page 461

In writing, as in medicine, there are no short cuts. You need stamina.

— Abraham Verghese

A book cannot easily be too bad for the general public, but may easily be too good.

— Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

I wrote a lot in study hall to while away the hours.

— James Welch

“Oh what a feeling when you happen upon a book that seems to pour truth directly into your head.”

— Garry Fitchett

I always say that I'm a writer who writes more from place than race.

— Katori Hall

“Finished all work for my MTS. Did get to read a lot of very long books.”

— Philip Dampier

Then I decided I would spend the summer writing a novel. That would fix a lot of people.

— Sylvia Plath

“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.”

— Heinrich Heine

There's no better feeling as a writer than to see your piece going beyond what you can have ever imagined. And a…

— Tom Kitt

I like to write about things that are extreme in some form. I like to write about something I feel I have…

— Suzanne Vega

I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a…

— Harper Lee

It is simply much easier to infuse life, feeling, and higher truth into a novel than a non-fiction work, to find the…

— Jon Weisman

Every reader finds himself. The writer's work is merely a kind of optical instrument that makes it possible for the reader to…

— Marcel Proust

I wonder sometimes if I've got in the habit of only being courageous when someone else has written the words I have…

— Katherine Waterston

If there is still an American dream, reading is one of the bootstraps by which we can all pull ourselves up.

— Karin Slaughter

A writer has many tools: eyes, ears, nose, sensations, thoughts feelings and imagination. The tools can construct a house of stories.

— Mark Rubinstein

“This book is a treasure; I did not suspect it would be so good when I picked it up, but now I…

— Laura Nowlin

a novel is not born of a single idea. The stories I've tried to write from one idea, no matter how terrific…

— Katherine Paterson

Very few people can write in a crowd. This is a very solitary occupation. I have known people more talented than me…

— Tom Robbins

My writing has to excite people and depict or include their experiences. That's part of my process - to go out and…

— Chuck Palahniuk

At the beginning of my career as a writer, I felt I knew nothing of Chinese culture. I was writing about emotional…

— Amy Tan

It's an interesting job, it's a fascinating job, I can't imagine anything that would have given me more satisfaction, and not everything…

— Dennis O'Neil

Paul's the writer. Yeah, I wrote a little of that stuff, but that's just technically true. In spirit, and in essence of…

— Art Garfunkel

“Surrounded by the familiar covers of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, I felt like this was where all lost…

— V.J. Campilan

People don't care about books. They care about ideas.

— Tim O'Reilly

I read a ton of fiction - historical, contemporary, literary, commercial, I love it all.

— Megan Chance

“I’d rather be an unknown book in the library of time, than a bestseller in the store of mankind.”

— Stephan Attia

Being an author of banned books is cool, I've decided.

— Lauren Myracle

I've matured as a writer and human being. I've got some wisdom under my belt.

— Carlene Carter

We read to find ourselves, more fully and more strangely than otherwise we could hope to find.

— Harold Bloom

Don't dumb down; always write for your top five percent of readers.

— Martin Amis

I always feel very afraid as I work on books. It's just so hard to write a decent book!

— Jennifer Egan

The difference between me and you is that I do good fiction.

— Tom Clancy

A book is the only real escape from this fallen world. Aside from death.

— Anonymous

Writing, overall, has never been what I'd call fun. It's fulfilling. It doesn't come real easy for me.

— Iris Dement

“You can “pants” your way through your novel, but you can’t “pants” your way to success.”

— Bob Mayer

I was just delighted to be a legitimate, for-real published author.

— Paul Harding

I don't necessarily intend to publish posthumously, but I do like to write for myself.

— J. D. Salinger

The urge to write one's autobiography, so I have been told, overtakes everyone sooner or later.

— Agatha Christie

“Every book tells a story, so you better be ready for the adventure.”

— Jessica Kinney