--- title: "1 Writers Talk Quotes By James McBride" description: "1 Writers Talk quotes by James McBride. Plus more from James McBride and more Writers Talk sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee0/james-mcbride-4758_bartender_the-basic-thing-is-to-be-humble-and-pret_2939516.png" --- > [The basic thing is to be humble, and pretend you're a bartender in the tavern of life. Don't get too comfortable and don't really listen to anybody else. Don't stand around with a bunch of writers and talk about writing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/the-basic-thing-is-to-be-humble-and-pretend-you-re-a-bartender-in-the/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee0/james-mcbride-4758_bartender_the-basic-thing-is-to-be-humble-and-pret_2939516.png) ## More by James McBride > [Some things in this world just ain't meant to be, not in the times we want 'em to, and the heart has to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/some-things-in-this-world-just-ain-t-meant-to-be-not-in-the-times-we/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [There are some really great books that have been written about slavery, but I don't think that the discourse about it in society has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/there-are-some-really-great-books-that-have-been-written-about/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [“Whatever you is, Onion," he said, "be it full.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/whatever-you-is-onion-he-said-be-it-full/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [There are two responses to really awful things. One is to lament and say, "Oh my God, oh lord." And the other is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/there-are-two-responses-to-really-awful-things-one-is-to-lament-and/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [If you're going to cheat and take people's history and you're not writing the Bible, you ain't really so great. But if you try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/if-you-re-going-to-cheat-and-take-people-s-history-and-you-re-not/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [“Most cars drove through there because the drivers is either from The Bottom and wanna get home - or they ain't from The Bottom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/most-cars-drove-through-there-because-the-drivers-is-either-from-the/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [There has to be some mystery in life, because the joy of being a writer and the joy of being a musician is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/there-has-to-be-some-mystery-in-life-because-the-joy-of-being-a/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [“And when James asked what color God was, she said, God is the color of water.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/and-when-james-asked-what-color-god-was-she-said-god-is-the-color-of/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [I'm proud of 'Miracle at St. Anna' and I loved it; there's no question in my mind it's as good as any movie that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/i-m-proud-of-miracle-at-st-anna-and-i-loved-it-there-s-no-question-in/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [“back,” Daddy said. “It’ll work out.” He had no idea what to do about Helen. They spoke a completely different language. He was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/back-daddy-said-it-ll-work-out-he-had-no-idea-what-to-do-about-helen/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [I'm one of the few Black writers, or African American writers, who managed to work my way through the system so that it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/i-m-one-of-the-few-black-writers-or-african-american-writers-who/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [God is the color of water. Water doesn't have a color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/god-is-the-color-of-water-water-doesn-t-have-a-color/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [First person narrative is a very effective tool but you have to know as a writer how to make it work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/first-person-narrative-is-a-very-effective-tool-but-you-have-to-know/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [The act of choosing what to place in your piece when you're a historian or a non-fiction writer already renders it into fiction for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/the-act-of-choosing-what-to-place-in-your-piece-when-you-re-a/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [...since I was a little boy, she had always wanted me to go. She was always sending me off on a bus someplace, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/since-i-was-a-little-boy-she-had-always-wanted-me-to-go-she-was/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-talk/james-mcbride/#itemlist", "name": "1 Writers Talk Quotes By James McBride", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The basic thing is to be humble, and pretend you're a bartender in the tavern of life. Don't get too comfortable and don't really listen to anybody else. Don't stand around with a bunch of writers and talk about writing. You know when you see plumbers at a plumbers convention, usually they're not talking about plumbing: they're talking about whatever it is that two men happen to talk about. 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