---
title: "Best Writer Quotes by Paul Auster"
description: "78 Writer quotes by Paul Auster. Plus more from Paul Auster and more Writer sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/paul-auster-351_fiction_the-most-deeply-personal-of-my-works-are_1793456.jpg"
---

> [The most deeply personal of my works are the non-fiction works, the autobiographical works, because there, I'm talking about myself very directly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-most-deeply-personal-of-my-works-are-the-non-fiction-works-the/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/paul-auster-351_fiction_the-most-deeply-personal-of-my-works-are_1793456.jpg)

> [Writing makes you feel that there is a reason to go on living. If I couldn't write, I would stop breathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/writing-makes-you-feel-that-there-is-a-reason-to-go-on-living-if-i/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/paul-auster-351_breathing_writing-makes-you-feel-that-there-is-a-r_2542279.jpg)

> [Novels are fictions and therefore they tell lies, but through those lies every novelist attempts to tell the truth about the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/novels-are-fictions-and-therefore-they-tell-lies-but-through-those/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/paul-auster-351_books_novels-are-fictions-and-therefore-they-t_2395073.jpg)

> [I do not repeat conversations that I can't remember. And it's something that irritates me a great deal, because I think most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-do-not-repeat-conversations-that-i-can-t-remember-and-it-s/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/paul-auster-351_communication_i-do-not-repeat-conversations-that-i-can_3232019.jpg)

> [I've always written by hand. Mostly with a fountain pen, but sometimes with a pencil - especially for corrections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-ve-always-written-by-hand-mostly-with-a-fountain-pen-but-sometimes/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2d/paul-auster-351_always_i-ve-always-written-by-hand-mostly-with_928516.jpg)

> [When I am writing, even though it's hard and I do struggle often, I am happier than when I'm not writing. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/when-i-am-writing-even-though-it-s-hard-and-i-do-struggle-often-i-am/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb1/paul-auster-351_alive_when-i-am-writing-even-though-it-s-hard_1012537.jpg)

> [Writing is, after all, a gesture towards other people, giving something to others. And so it's not a completely hermetic exercise. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/writing-is-after-all-a-gesture-towards-other-people-giving-something/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb6/paul-auster-351_exercise_writing-is-after-all-a-gesture-towards-o_513714.jpg)

> [I wrote Report from the Interior was that after I finished Winter Journal, I took a pause, and I realized there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-wrote-report-from-the-interior-was-that-after-i-finished-winter/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/722/paul-auster-351_finished_i-wrote-report-from-the-interior-was-tha_617274.jpg)

> [Don't be a writer, it's a terrible way to live your life, there's nothing to be gained from it but poverty and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/don-t-be-a-writer-it-s-a-terrible-way-to-live-your-life-there-s-2/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28c/paul-auster-351_burning_don-t-be-a-writer-it-s-a-terrible-way-to_2150944.jpg)

> [Becoming a writer is not a 'career decision' like becoming a doctor or a policeman. You don't choose it so much as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/becoming-a-writer-is-not-a-career-decision-like-becoming-a-doctor-or/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7b/paul-auster-351_accepting_becoming-a-writer-is-not-a-career-decisi_113011.jpg)

> [“So it goes as I work my way down the page, and each cluster of marks is a word, and each word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/so-it-goes-as-i-work-my-way-down-the-page-and-each-cluster-of-marks/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/paul-auster-351_language_so-it-goes-as-i-work-my-way-down-the-pag_2746657.jpg)

> [Reading, at the deepest level, is a physical experience. Most people are not attuned to this, most people don't learn how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/reading-at-the-deepest-level-is-a-physical-experience-most-people-are/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5e/paul-auster-351_body_reading-at-the-deepest-level-is-a-physic_233188.jpg)

> [I really, truly believe that writing comes out of the body; of course, the mind is working as well, but it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-really-truly-believe-that-writing-comes-out-of-the-body-of-course/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/paul-auster-351_believe_i-really-truly-believe-that-writing-come_2998855.jpg)

> [The book that convinced me I wanted to be a writer was 'Crime and Punishment'. I put the thing down after reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-book-that-convinced-me-i-wanted-to-be-a-writer-was-crime-and/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73e/paul-auster-351_book_the-book-that-convinced-me-i-wanted-to-b_1326549.jpg)

> [With a computer, you make your changes on the screen and then you print out a clean copy. With a typewriter, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/with-a-computer-you-make-your-changes-on-the-screen-and-then-you/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e0/paul-auster-351_again_with-a-computer-you-make-your-changes-on_534864.jpg)

> [I use things, I steal things from my life when I want to, when I need to, or when it seems appropriate.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-use-things-i-steal-things-from-my-life-when-i-want-to-when-i-need/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9d/paul-auster-351_appropriate_i-use-things-i-steal-things-from-my-life_1613213.jpg)

> [Each book I've done somehow finds its own unique form, a specific way it has to be written, and once I find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/each-book-i-ve-done-somehow-finds-its-own-unique-form-a-specific-way/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/paul-auster-351_book_each-book-i-ve-done-somehow-finds-its-ow_411921.jpg)

> [I don't know why I write. If I knew the answer, I probably wouldn't have to. But it is a compulsion. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-don-t-know-why-i-write-if-i-knew-the-answer-i-probably-wouldn-t/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/paul-auster-351_answers_i-don-t-know-why-i-write-if-i-knew-the-a_1341007.jpg)

> [I've written books that have taken me fifteen years, from first sentence to last, and some that only take three or four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-ve-written-books-that-have-taken-me-fifteen-years-from-first/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a04/paul-auster-351_book_i-ve-written-books-that-have-taken-me-fi_2035758.jpg)

> [Nobody asks you to do this. The world out there is not panting after another novelist. We choose it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/nobody-asks-you-to-do-this-the-world-out-there-is-not-panting-after/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b2/paul-auster-351_asks_nobody-asks-you-to-do-this-the-world-out_2374738.jpg)

> [I'm not a boy-writer, I've never been. I wanted to be a boy-writer when I was young, and I think that held…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-m-not-a-boy-writer-i-ve-never-been-i-wanted-to-be-a-boy-writer-when/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/paul-auster-351_accepted_i-m-not-a-boy-writer-i-ve-never-been-i-w_3196020.jpg)

> [Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/reading-was-my-escape-and-my-comfort-my-consolation-my-stimulant-of/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/paul-auster-351_beautiful_reading-was-my-escape-and-my-comfort-my_2709388.jpg)

> [I write the paragraph, then I'm crossing out, changing words, trying to improve it. When it seems more or less OK, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-write-the-paragraph-then-i-m-crossing-out-changing-words-trying-to/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfa/paul-auster-351_able_i-write-the-paragraph-then-i-m-crossing_1358545.jpg)

> [Those of us who can remember our childhoods will recall how ardently we relished the moment of the bedtime story, when our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/those-of-us-who-can-remember-our-childhoods-will-recall-how-ardently/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c13/paul-auster-351_bedtime_those-of-us-who-can-remember-our-childho_2775928.jpg)

> [In fact, writing, especially writing autobiographical works, and this is actually the fourth time I've done it, each time I've done it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/in-fact-writing-especially-writing-autobiographical-works-and-this-is/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/072/paul-auster-351_done_in-fact-writing-especially-writing-autob_2899719.jpg)

> [While I was writing poems, I would often divert myself by reading detective novels, I liked them. And there was a period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/while-i-was-writing-poems-i-would-often-divert-myself-by-reading/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1e/paul-auster-351_books_while-i-was-writing-poems-i-would-often_948280.jpg)

> [There's a difference between doing memoir and writing a novel. If I had put the story of the boy killing my dog…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/there-s-a-difference-between-doing-memoir-and-writing-a-novel-if-i/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/paul-auster-351_books_there-s-a-difference-between-doing-memoi_1217722.jpg)

> [When I write, the story is always uppermost in my mind, and I feel that everything must be sacrificed to it. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/when-i-write-the-story-is-always-uppermost-in-my-mind-and-i-feel-that/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/402/paul-auster-351_beautiful_when-i-write-the-story-is-always-uppermo_844563.jpg)

> [I feel that the act of writing, in and of itself, is a tool towards probing that which you wouldn't without that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-feel-that-the-act-of-writing-in-and-of-itself-is-a-tool-towards/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/paul-auster-351_feels_i-feel-that-the-act-of-writing-in-and-of_2123575.jpg)

> [I thought, "Well, I'm writing about early childhood, so maybe it would make sense to write about late childhood as well, early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-thought-well-i-m-writing-about-early-childhood-so-maybe-it-would/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/paul-auster-351_adulthood_i-thought-well-i-m-writing-about-early-c_2914480.jpg)

> [If I could write directly on a typewriter or a computer, I would do it. But keyboards have always intimidated me. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/if-i-could-write-directly-on-a-typewriter-or-a-computer-i-would-do-it/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21f/paul-auster-351_able_if-i-could-write-directly-on-a-typewrite_1442786.jpg)

> [Memoirs have dominated the literary scene now for ten or 20 or even 30 years: most of them seem to use the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/memoirs-have-dominated-the-literary-scene-now-for-ten-or-20-or-even/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce9/paul-auster-351_able_memoirs-have-dominated-the-literary-scen_1384099.jpg)

> [ “\[T\]he only luxury he allows himself is buying books, paperback books, mostly novels, American novels, British novels, foreign novels in translation, but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/t-he-only-luxury-he-allows-himself-is-buying-books-paperback-books/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a62/paul-auster-351_addiction_t-he-only-luxury-he-allows-himself-is-bu_2280053.jpg)

> [In my later novels, I systematically used the convention, and then a moment came - when did it come? With The Book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/in-my-later-novels-i-systematically-used-the-convention-and-then-a/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7f/paul-auster-351_book_in-my-later-novels-i-systematically-used_1760598.jpg)

> [Once you finish a book, it doesn't belong to you anymore. You're giving it to other people. If something in what a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/once-you-finish-a-book-it-doesn-t-belong-to-you-anymore-you-re-giving/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/paul-auster-351_book_once-you-finish-a-book-it-doesn-t-belong_181451.jpg)

> [I have to say in premise 'Winter Journal' is really not a memoir. And I don't even think of it as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-have-to-say-in-premise-winter-journal-is-really-not-a-memoir-and-i/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/paul-auster-351_autobiography_i-have-to-say-in-premise-winter-journal_1637886.jpg)

> [The mental state I'm in is completely different, but the act of trying to write is the same. I mean, in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-mental-state-i-m-in-is-completely-different-but-the-act-of-trying/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ad/paul-auster-351_different_the-mental-state-i-m-in-is-completely-di_1330645.jpg)

> [I sometimes feel that my goal as a novelist would be to write a novel in which the language was so transparent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-sometimes-feel-that-my-goal-as-a-novelist-would-be-to-write-a-novel/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/paul-auster-351_books_i-sometimes-feel-that-my-goal-as-a-novel_2688092.jpg)

## Other authors on Writer

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-stephen-king-87054.jpg) Stephen King 229 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/stephen-king/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-neil-gaiman-70689.jpg) Neil Gaiman 197 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/neil-gaiman/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-ray-bradbury-77494.jpg) Ray Bradbury 180 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/ray-bradbury/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-ernest-hemingway-33795.jpg) Ernest Hemingway 166 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/ernest-hemingway/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-virginia-woolf-93906.jpg) Virginia Woolf 119 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/virginia-woolf/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-anne-lamott-13804.jpg) Anne Lamott 114 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/anne-lamott/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-haruki-murakami-40784.jpg) Haruki Murakami 104 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/haruki-murakami/)
- [Ralph Waldo Emerson 101 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/ralph-waldo-emerson/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-terry-pratchett-89528.jpg) Terry Pratchett 100 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/terry-pratchett/)
- [Jarod Kintz 94 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/jarod-kintz/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-george-saunders-37966.jpg) George Saunders 90 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/george-saunders/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-alberto-manguel-10592.jpg) Alberto Manguel 87 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/alberto-manguel/)

## More by Paul Auster

> [“On his best walks, he was able to feel that he was nowhere. And this, finally, was all he ever asked of things: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/on-his-best-walks-he-was-able-to-feel-that-he-was-nowhere-and-this/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [“No es que escribir me produzca un gran placer, pero es mucho peor si no lo hago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/no-es-que-escribir-me-produzca-un-gran-placer-pero-es-mucho-peor-si/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [You see, the interesting thing about books, as opposed, say, to films, is that it's always just one person encountering the book, it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/you-see-the-interesting-thing-about-books-as-opposed-say-to-films-is/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [I'm not a man deeply interested in technology. It eludes me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-m-not-a-man-deeply-interested-in-technology-it-eludes-me/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [The joke is the purest, most essential form of storytelling. Every word has to count.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-joke-is-the-purest-most-essential-form-of-storytelling-every-word/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [“What people saw when he appeared before them, then, was not really him, but a person he had invented, an artificial creature he could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/what-people-saw-when-he-appeared-before-them-then-was-not-really-him/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [I had made an empirical discovery and it carried all the weight of a mathematical proof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-had-made-an-empirical-discovery-and-it-carried-all-the-weight-of-a/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [As long as there's one person to believe it, there's no story that can't be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/as-long-as-there-s-one-person-to-believe-it-there-s-no-story-that-can/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [Writing has always had a tactile quality for me. It's a physical experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/writing-has-always-had-a-tactile-quality-for-me-it-s-a-physical/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [People look at the same passage, and one person will say this is the best thing he's ever read, and another person will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/people-look-at-the-same-passage-and-one-person-will-say-this-is-the/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [I was very moved to see that the name of the boat was Hamlet - an imaginary character becomes so important to people, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-was-very-moved-to-see-that-the-name-of-the-boat-was-hamlet-an/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [Our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/our-lifelong-certainties-about-the-world-can-be-demolished-in-a/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [The ideal reader's the same, and I suppose this person has never had a face or a gender or an age. It's just some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-ideal-reader-s-the-same-and-i-suppose-this-person-has-never-had-a/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [“Most lives vanish. A person dies, and little by little all traces of that life disappear. An inventor survives in his inventions, an architect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/most-lives-vanish-a-person-dies-and-little-by-little-all-traces-of/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

> [“and cut down many trees. When the Humans”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/and-cut-down-many-trees-when-the-humans/)

[Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/paul-auster/#itemlist",
            "name": "Best Writer Quotes by Paul Auster",
            "numberOfItems": 38,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The most deeply personal of my works are the non-fiction works, the autobiographical works, because there, I'm talking about myself very directly.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-most-deeply-personal-of-my-works-are-the-non-fiction-works-the/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/paul-auster-351_fiction_the-most-deeply-personal-of-my-works-are_1793456.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/paul-auster-351_fiction_the-most-deeply-personal-of-my-works-are_1793456.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/paul-auster-351_fiction_the-most-deeply-personal-of-my-works-are_1793456.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The most deeply personal of my works are the non-fiction works, the autobiographical works, because there…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Writing makes you feel that there is a reason to go on living. If I couldn't write, I would stop breathing.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/writing-makes-you-feel-that-there-is-a-reason-to-go-on-living-if-i/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/paul-auster-351_breathing_writing-makes-you-feel-that-there-is-a-r_2542279.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/paul-auster-351_breathing_writing-makes-you-feel-that-there-is-a-r_2542279.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/paul-auster-351_breathing_writing-makes-you-feel-that-there-is-a-r_2542279.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Writing makes you feel that there is a reason to go on living. If I couldn't write, I would stop breathing.” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Novels are fictions and therefore they tell lies, but through those lies every novelist attempts to tell the truth about the world.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/novels-are-fictions-and-therefore-they-tell-lies-but-through-those/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/paul-auster-351_books_novels-are-fictions-and-therefore-they-t_2395073.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/paul-auster-351_books_novels-are-fictions-and-therefore-they-t_2395073.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/paul-auster-351_books_novels-are-fictions-and-therefore-they-t_2395073.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Novels are fictions and therefore they tell lies, but through those lies every novelist attempts to tell the…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I do not repeat conversations that I can't remember. And it's something that irritates me a great deal, because I think most memoirs are false novels.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-do-not-repeat-conversations-that-i-can-t-remember-and-it-s/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/paul-auster-351_communication_i-do-not-repeat-conversations-that-i-can_3232019.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/paul-auster-351_communication_i-do-not-repeat-conversations-that-i-can_3232019.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/paul-auster-351_communication_i-do-not-repeat-conversations-that-i-can_3232019.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I do not repeat conversations that I can't remember. And it's something that irritates me a great deal…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I've always written by hand. Mostly with a fountain pen, but sometimes with a pencil - especially for corrections.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-ve-always-written-by-hand-mostly-with-a-fountain-pen-but-sometimes/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2d/paul-auster-351_always_i-ve-always-written-by-hand-mostly-with_928516.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2d/paul-auster-351_always_i-ve-always-written-by-hand-mostly-with_928516.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2d/paul-auster-351_always_i-ve-always-written-by-hand-mostly-with_928516.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I've always written by hand. Mostly with a fountain pen, but sometimes with a pencil - especially for…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 6,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "When I am writing, even though it's hard and I do struggle often, I am happier than when I'm not writing. I feel alive. Whereas when I'm not writing, I feel like your common every-day neurotic.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/when-i-am-writing-even-though-it-s-hard-and-i-do-struggle-often-i-am/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb1/paul-auster-351_alive_when-i-am-writing-even-though-it-s-hard_1012537.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb1/paul-auster-351_alive_when-i-am-writing-even-though-it-s-hard_1012537.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb1/paul-auster-351_alive_when-i-am-writing-even-though-it-s-hard_1012537.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“When I am writing, even though it's hard and I do struggle often, I am happier than when I'm not writing. I…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 7,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Writing is, after all, a gesture towards other people, giving something to others. And so it's not a completely hermetic exercise. It's really an opening up.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/writing-is-after-all-a-gesture-towards-other-people-giving-something/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb6/paul-auster-351_exercise_writing-is-after-all-a-gesture-towards-o_513714.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb6/paul-auster-351_exercise_writing-is-after-all-a-gesture-towards-o_513714.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb6/paul-auster-351_exercise_writing-is-after-all-a-gesture-towards-o_513714.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Writing is, after all, a gesture towards other people, giving something to others. And so it's not a…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 8,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I wrote Report from the Interior was that after I finished Winter Journal, I took a pause, and I realized there was more I wanted to say.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-wrote-report-from-the-interior-was-that-after-i-finished-winter/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/722/paul-auster-351_finished_i-wrote-report-from-the-interior-was-tha_617274.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/722/paul-auster-351_finished_i-wrote-report-from-the-interior-was-tha_617274.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/722/paul-auster-351_finished_i-wrote-report-from-the-interior-was-tha_617274.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I wrote Report from the Interior was that after I finished Winter Journal, I took a pause, and I realized…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 9,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Don't be a writer, it's a terrible way to live your life, there's nothing to be gained from it but poverty and obscurity and solitude. So if you have a taste for all those things, which means that you really are burning to do it, then go ahead and do it.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/don-t-be-a-writer-it-s-a-terrible-way-to-live-your-life-there-s-2/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28c/paul-auster-351_burning_don-t-be-a-writer-it-s-a-terrible-way-to_2150944.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28c/paul-auster-351_burning_don-t-be-a-writer-it-s-a-terrible-way-to_2150944.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28c/paul-auster-351_burning_don-t-be-a-writer-it-s-a-terrible-way-to_2150944.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Don't be a writer, it's a terrible way to live your life, there's nothing to be gained from it but poverty…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 10,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Becoming a writer is not a 'career decision' like becoming a doctor or a policeman. You don't choose it so much as get chosen, and once you accept the fact that you're not fit for anything else, you have to be prepared to walk a long, hard road for the rest of your days.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/becoming-a-writer-is-not-a-career-decision-like-becoming-a-doctor-or/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7b/paul-auster-351_accepting_becoming-a-writer-is-not-a-career-decisi_113011.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7b/paul-auster-351_accepting_becoming-a-writer-is-not-a-career-decisi_113011.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7b/paul-auster-351_accepting_becoming-a-writer-is-not-a-career-decisi_113011.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Becoming a writer is not a 'career decision' like becoming a doctor or a policeman. You don't choose it so…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 11,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“So it goes as I work my way down the page, and each cluster of marks is a word, and each word is a sound in my head, and each time I write another word, I hear the sound of my own voice, even though my lips are silent.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/so-it-goes-as-i-work-my-way-down-the-page-and-each-cluster-of-marks/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/paul-auster-351_language_so-it-goes-as-i-work-my-way-down-the-pag_2746657.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/paul-auster-351_language_so-it-goes-as-i-work-my-way-down-the-pag_2746657.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/paul-auster-351_language_so-it-goes-as-i-work-my-way-down-the-pag_2746657.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“So it goes as I work my way down the page, and each cluster of marks is a word, and each word is a sound in…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 12,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Reading, at the deepest level, is a physical experience. Most people are not attuned to this, most people don't learn how to read - poetry for example, or high-quality prose. They're used to reading magazines and newspapers, which are only of the mind, but not of the body.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/reading-at-the-deepest-level-is-a-physical-experience-most-people-are/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5e/paul-auster-351_body_reading-at-the-deepest-level-is-a-physic_233188.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5e/paul-auster-351_body_reading-at-the-deepest-level-is-a-physic_233188.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5e/paul-auster-351_body_reading-at-the-deepest-level-is-a-physic_233188.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Reading, at the deepest level, is a physical experience. Most people are not attuned to this, most people…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 13,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I really, truly believe that writing comes out of the body; of course, the mind is working as well, but it's a double thing and that doubleness is united. I mean, you can't separate persona from psyche; you just can't do it.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-really-truly-believe-that-writing-comes-out-of-the-body-of-course/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/paul-auster-351_believe_i-really-truly-believe-that-writing-come_2998855.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/paul-auster-351_believe_i-really-truly-believe-that-writing-come_2998855.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b0/paul-auster-351_believe_i-really-truly-believe-that-writing-come_2998855.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I really, truly believe that writing comes out of the body; of course, the mind is working as well, but it's…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 14,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The book that convinced me I wanted to be a writer was 'Crime and Punishment'. I put the thing down after reading it in a fever over two or three days... I said, 'If this is what a book can be, then that is what I want to do.'",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-book-that-convinced-me-i-wanted-to-be-a-writer-was-crime-and/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73e/paul-auster-351_book_the-book-that-convinced-me-i-wanted-to-b_1326549.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73e/paul-auster-351_book_the-book-that-convinced-me-i-wanted-to-b_1326549.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73e/paul-auster-351_book_the-book-that-convinced-me-i-wanted-to-b_1326549.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The book that convinced me I wanted to be a writer was 'Crime and Punishment'. I put the thing down after…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 15,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "With a computer, you make your changes on the screen and then you print out a clean copy. With a typewriter, you can't get a clean manuscript unless you start again from scratch. It's an incredibly tedious process.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/with-a-computer-you-make-your-changes-on-the-screen-and-then-you/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e0/paul-auster-351_again_with-a-computer-you-make-your-changes-on_534864.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e0/paul-auster-351_again_with-a-computer-you-make-your-changes-on_534864.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e0/paul-auster-351_again_with-a-computer-you-make-your-changes-on_534864.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“With a computer, you make your changes on the screen and then you print out a clean copy. With a typewriter…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 16,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I use things, I steal things from my life when I want to, when I need to, or when it seems appropriate. But most of the stuff in my novels is entirely invented, ninety-five percent. And even when I do borrow something, it becomes fictionalized.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-use-things-i-steal-things-from-my-life-when-i-want-to-when-i-need/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9d/paul-auster-351_appropriate_i-use-things-i-steal-things-from-my-life_1613213.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9d/paul-auster-351_appropriate_i-use-things-i-steal-things-from-my-life_1613213.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9d/paul-auster-351_appropriate_i-use-things-i-steal-things-from-my-life_1613213.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I use things, I steal things from my life when I want to, when I need to, or when it seems appropriate. But…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 17,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Each book I've done somehow finds its own unique form, a specific way it has to be written, and once I find it, I stick with it.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/each-book-i-ve-done-somehow-finds-its-own-unique-form-a-specific-way/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/paul-auster-351_book_each-book-i-ve-done-somehow-finds-its-ow_411921.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/paul-auster-351_book_each-book-i-ve-done-somehow-finds-its-ow_411921.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/paul-auster-351_book_each-book-i-ve-done-somehow-finds-its-ow_411921.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Each book I've done somehow finds its own unique form, a specific way it has to be written, and once I find…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 18,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I don't know why I write. If I knew the answer, I probably wouldn't have to. But it is a compulsion. You don't choose it, it chooses you. And I wouldn't recommend it to anybody.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-don-t-know-why-i-write-if-i-knew-the-answer-i-probably-wouldn-t/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/paul-auster-351_answers_i-don-t-know-why-i-write-if-i-knew-the-a_1341007.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/paul-auster-351_answers_i-don-t-know-why-i-write-if-i-knew-the-a_1341007.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/paul-auster-351_answers_i-don-t-know-why-i-write-if-i-knew-the-a_1341007.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I don't know why I write. If I knew the answer, I probably wouldn't have to. But it is a compulsion. You…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 19,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I've written books that have taken me fifteen years, from first sentence to last, and some that only take three or four months.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-ve-written-books-that-have-taken-me-fifteen-years-from-first/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a04/paul-auster-351_book_i-ve-written-books-that-have-taken-me-fi_2035758.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a04/paul-auster-351_book_i-ve-written-books-that-have-taken-me-fi_2035758.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a04/paul-auster-351_book_i-ve-written-books-that-have-taken-me-fi_2035758.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I've written books that have taken me fifteen years, from first sentence to last, and some that only take…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 20,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Nobody asks you to do this. The world out there is not panting after another novelist. We choose it.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/nobody-asks-you-to-do-this-the-world-out-there-is-not-panting-after/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b2/paul-auster-351_asks_nobody-asks-you-to-do-this-the-world-out_2374738.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b2/paul-auster-351_asks_nobody-asks-you-to-do-this-the-world-out_2374738.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b2/paul-auster-351_asks_nobody-asks-you-to-do-this-the-world-out_2374738.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Nobody asks you to do this. The world out there is not panting after another novelist. We choose it.” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 21,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I'm not a boy-writer, I've never been. I wanted to be a boy-writer when I was young, and I think that held me back. I wanted to be very clever, and funny, but I'm not very clever and not terribly funny. I've finally accepted my limits, and I do what I can do.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-m-not-a-boy-writer-i-ve-never-been-i-wanted-to-be-a-boy-writer-when/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/paul-auster-351_accepted_i-m-not-a-boy-writer-i-ve-never-been-i-w_3196020.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/paul-auster-351_accepted_i-m-not-a-boy-writer-i-ve-never-been-i-w_3196020.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/256/paul-auster-351_accepted_i-m-not-a-boy-writer-i-ve-never-been-i-w_3196020.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I'm not a boy-writer, I've never been. I wanted to be a boy-writer when I was young, and I think that held…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 22,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that surrounds you when you hear an author's words reverberating in your head.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/reading-was-my-escape-and-my-comfort-my-consolation-my-stimulant-of/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/paul-auster-351_beautiful_reading-was-my-escape-and-my-comfort-my_2709388.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/paul-auster-351_beautiful_reading-was-my-escape-and-my-comfort-my_2709388.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/paul-auster-351_beautiful_reading-was-my-escape-and-my-comfort-my_2709388.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 23,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I write the paragraph, then I'm crossing out, changing words, trying to improve it. When it seems more or less OK, then I type it up because sometimes it's almost illegible, and if I wait, I might not be able to read it the next day.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-write-the-paragraph-then-i-m-crossing-out-changing-words-trying-to/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfa/paul-auster-351_able_i-write-the-paragraph-then-i-m-crossing_1358545.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfa/paul-auster-351_able_i-write-the-paragraph-then-i-m-crossing_1358545.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfa/paul-auster-351_able_i-write-the-paragraph-then-i-m-crossing_1358545.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I write the paragraph, then I'm crossing out, changing words, trying to improve it. When it seems more or…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 24,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Those of us who can remember our childhoods will recall how ardently we relished the moment of the bedtime story, when our mother or father would sit down beside us in the semi-dark and read from a book of fairy tales.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/those-of-us-who-can-remember-our-childhoods-will-recall-how-ardently/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c13/paul-auster-351_bedtime_those-of-us-who-can-remember-our-childho_2775928.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c13/paul-auster-351_bedtime_those-of-us-who-can-remember-our-childho_2775928.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c13/paul-auster-351_bedtime_those-of-us-who-can-remember-our-childho_2775928.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Those of us who can remember our childhoods will recall how ardently we relished the moment of the bedtime…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 25,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "In fact, writing, especially writing autobiographical works, and this is actually the fourth time I've done it, each time I've done it I've felt deeply immersed in the material as I'm doing it, and then it's over and everything is the same.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/in-fact-writing-especially-writing-autobiographical-works-and-this-is/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/072/paul-auster-351_done_in-fact-writing-especially-writing-autob_2899719.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/072/paul-auster-351_done_in-fact-writing-especially-writing-autob_2899719.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/072/paul-auster-351_done_in-fact-writing-especially-writing-autob_2899719.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“In fact, writing, especially writing autobiographical works, and this is actually the fourth time I've done…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 26,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "While I was writing poems, I would often divert myself by reading detective novels, I liked them. And there was a period when I read many of them. I absorbed the form, and I liked it, it was a good one, mostly the hard-boiled school, you know, Chandler, Hammett, and their heirs. That was the direction that interested me most.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/while-i-was-writing-poems-i-would-often-divert-myself-by-reading/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1e/paul-auster-351_books_while-i-was-writing-poems-i-would-often_948280.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1e/paul-auster-351_books_while-i-was-writing-poems-i-would-often_948280.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1e/paul-auster-351_books_while-i-was-writing-poems-i-would-often_948280.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“While I was writing poems, I would often divert myself by reading detective novels, I liked them. And there…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 27,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "There's a difference between doing memoir and writing a novel. If I had put the story of the boy killing my dog - and that was Eric also, what a little monster he was! - in a novel, even if I took it directly from life, it would be fiction.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/there-s-a-difference-between-doing-memoir-and-writing-a-novel-if-i/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/paul-auster-351_books_there-s-a-difference-between-doing-memoi_1217722.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/paul-auster-351_books_there-s-a-difference-between-doing-memoi_1217722.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/paul-auster-351_books_there-s-a-difference-between-doing-memoi_1217722.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“There's a difference between doing memoir and writing a novel. If I had put the story of the boy killing my…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 28,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "When I write, the story is always uppermost in my mind, and I feel that everything must be sacrificed to it. All elegant passages, all the curious details, all the so-called beautiful writing - if they are not truly relevant to what I am trying to say, then they have to go.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/when-i-write-the-story-is-always-uppermost-in-my-mind-and-i-feel-that/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/402/paul-auster-351_beautiful_when-i-write-the-story-is-always-uppermo_844563.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/402/paul-auster-351_beautiful_when-i-write-the-story-is-always-uppermo_844563.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/402/paul-auster-351_beautiful_when-i-write-the-story-is-always-uppermo_844563.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“When I write, the story is always uppermost in my mind, and I feel that everything must be sacrificed to it…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 29,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I feel that the act of writing, in and of itself, is a tool towards probing that which you wouldn't without that pen in your hand. It's a strange, almost neurological phenomenon, and the words seem to generate more words - but only when you're writing. You can't do it in your head.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-feel-that-the-act-of-writing-in-and-of-itself-is-a-tool-towards/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/paul-auster-351_feels_i-feel-that-the-act-of-writing-in-and-of_2123575.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/paul-auster-351_feels_i-feel-that-the-act-of-writing-in-and-of_2123575.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/paul-auster-351_feels_i-feel-that-the-act-of-writing-in-and-of_2123575.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I feel that the act of writing, in and of itself, is a tool towards probing that which you wouldn't without…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 30,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I thought, \"Well, I'm writing about early childhood, so maybe it would make sense to write about late childhood as well, early adulthood.\" Those were my thoughts, and this was how this crazy book [Winter Journal] was composed. I've never seen a book with pictures like at the end, pictures related to things you've read before.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-thought-well-i-m-writing-about-early-childhood-so-maybe-it-would/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/paul-auster-351_adulthood_i-thought-well-i-m-writing-about-early-c_2914480.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/paul-auster-351_adulthood_i-thought-well-i-m-writing-about-early-c_2914480.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/paul-auster-351_adulthood_i-thought-well-i-m-writing-about-early-c_2914480.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I thought, \"Well, I'm writing about early childhood, so maybe it would make sense to write about late…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 31,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "If I could write directly on a typewriter or a computer, I would do it. But keyboards have always intimidated me. I've never been able to think clearly with my fingers in that position. A pen is a much more primitive instrument. You feel that the words are coming out of your body and then you dig the words into the page.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/if-i-could-write-directly-on-a-typewriter-or-a-computer-i-would-do-it/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21f/paul-auster-351_able_if-i-could-write-directly-on-a-typewrite_1442786.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21f/paul-auster-351_able_if-i-could-write-directly-on-a-typewrite_1442786.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21f/paul-auster-351_able_if-i-could-write-directly-on-a-typewrite_1442786.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“If I could write directly on a typewriter or a computer, I would do it. But keyboards have always…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 32,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Memoirs have dominated the literary scene now for ten or 20 or even 30 years: most of them seem to use the conventions of fiction and it's astonishing how in so many of these books people seem to be able to remember conversations that took place when they were five years old and give three pages of coherent dialogue, which is utterly impossible.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/memoirs-have-dominated-the-literary-scene-now-for-ten-or-20-or-even/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce9/paul-auster-351_able_memoirs-have-dominated-the-literary-scen_1384099.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce9/paul-auster-351_able_memoirs-have-dominated-the-literary-scen_1384099.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce9/paul-auster-351_able_memoirs-have-dominated-the-literary-scen_1384099.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Memoirs have dominated the literary scene now for ten or 20 or even 30 years: most of them seem to use the…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 33,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“[T]he only luxury he allows himself is buying books, paperback books, mostly novels, American novels, British novels, foreign novels in translation, but in the end books are not luxuries so much as necessities, and reading is an addiction he has no wish to be cured of.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/t-he-only-luxury-he-allows-himself-is-buying-books-paperback-books/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a62/paul-auster-351_addiction_t-he-only-luxury-he-allows-himself-is-bu_2280053.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a62/paul-auster-351_addiction_t-he-only-luxury-he-allows-himself-is-bu_2280053.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a62/paul-auster-351_addiction_t-he-only-luxury-he-allows-himself-is-bu_2280053.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“[T]he only luxury he allows himself is buying books, paperback books, mostly novels, American novels…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 34,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "In my later novels, I systematically used the convention, and then a moment came - when did it come? With The Book of Illusions, maybe - I thought, I don't need them anymore, I don't need them, I want to integrate the dialogue into the text.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/in-my-later-novels-i-systematically-used-the-convention-and-then-a/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7f/paul-auster-351_book_in-my-later-novels-i-systematically-used_1760598.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7f/paul-auster-351_book_in-my-later-novels-i-systematically-used_1760598.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7f/paul-auster-351_book_in-my-later-novels-i-systematically-used_1760598.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“In my later novels, I systematically used the convention, and then a moment came - when did it come? With…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 35,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Once you finish a book, it doesn't belong to you anymore. You're giving it to other people. If something in what a writer writes can excite the imagination and the feelings of the reader, then that reader carries it around forever. Nothing is more vivid than good fiction.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/once-you-finish-a-book-it-doesn-t-belong-to-you-anymore-you-re-giving/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/paul-auster-351_book_once-you-finish-a-book-it-doesn-t-belong_181451.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/paul-auster-351_book_once-you-finish-a-book-it-doesn-t-belong_181451.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/paul-auster-351_book_once-you-finish-a-book-it-doesn-t-belong_181451.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Once you finish a book, it doesn't belong to you anymore. You're giving it to other people. If something in…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 36,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I have to say in premise 'Winter Journal' is really not a memoir. And I don't even think of it as an autobiography. I think of it as a literary composition - similar to music - composed of autobiographical fragments. I'm really not telling the story of my life in a coherent narrative form.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-have-to-say-in-premise-winter-journal-is-really-not-a-memoir-and-i/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/paul-auster-351_autobiography_i-have-to-say-in-premise-winter-journal_1637886.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/paul-auster-351_autobiography_i-have-to-say-in-premise-winter-journal_1637886.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/771/paul-auster-351_autobiography_i-have-to-say-in-premise-winter-journal_1637886.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I have to say in premise 'Winter Journal' is really not a memoir. And I don't even think of it as an…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 37,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The mental state I'm in is completely different, but the act of trying to write is the same. I mean, in all instances you try to write good sentences. But in a novel you're free to do whatever you want, and in the autobiographical works you can't make things up.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-mental-state-i-m-in-is-completely-different-but-the-act-of-trying/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ad/paul-auster-351_different_the-mental-state-i-m-in-is-completely-di_1330645.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ad/paul-auster-351_different_the-mental-state-i-m-in-is-completely-di_1330645.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ad/paul-auster-351_different_the-mental-state-i-m-in-is-completely-di_1330645.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The mental state I'm in is completely different, but the act of trying to write is the same. I mean, in all…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 38,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I sometimes feel that my goal as a novelist would be to write a novel in which the language was so transparent that the reader would forget that language was the medium of understanding. Of course that's not possible, but it's some sort of idealized goal.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Paul Auster"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-sometimes-feel-that-my-goal-as-a-novelist-would-be-to-write-a-novel/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/paul-auster-351_books_i-sometimes-feel-that-my-goal-as-a-novel_2688092.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/paul-auster-351_books_i-sometimes-feel-that-my-goal-as-a-novel_2688092.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/paul-auster-351_books_i-sometimes-feel-that-my-goal-as-a-novel_2688092.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I sometimes feel that my goal as a novelist would be to write a novel in which the language was so…” — Paul Auster",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/paul-auster/page/2/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/paul-auster/page/2/",
            "name": "Writer Quotes by Paul Auster · Page 2",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/paul-auster/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/paul-auster-351_fiction_the-most-deeply-personal-of-my-works-are_1793456.jpg"
            },
            "description": "78 Writer quotes by Paul Auster. Plus more from Paul Auster and more Writer sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/paul-auster/page/2/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/paul-auster/page/2/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Writer",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Paul Auster",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/paul-auster/page/2/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```