Painters work from the ground up. The latest version of a painting overlays earlier versions, and obliterates them. Writers, on the other… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
People love pretty much the same things best. A writer looking for subject inquires not after what he loves best, but after… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
For writing a first draft requires from the writer a peculiar internal state which ordinary life does not induce. ... how to… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
The mind of the writer does indeed do something before it dies, and so does its owner, but I would be hard… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
At night I read and write, and things I have never understood become clear; I reap the harvest of the rest of… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“It is no less difficult to write a sentence in a recipe than sentences in Moby Dick. So you might as well… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
It makes more sense to write one big book - a novel or nonfiction narrative - than to write many stories or… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
He is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write. He is careful of what he learns, for… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
There is neither a proportional relationship, nor an inverse one, between a writer’s estimation of a work in progress & its actual… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
Write as if you were dying. At the same time, assume you write for an audience consisting solely of terminal patients. That… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“Let the grass die. I let almost all of my indoor plants die from neglect while I was writing the book. There… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
The sensation of writing a book is the sensation of spinning, blinded by love and daring. It is the sensation of a… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
When you write, you lay out a line of words. The line of words is a miner's pick, a wood carver's gouge,… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
Your freedom as a writer is not freedom of expression in the sense of wild blurting; you may not let rip. It… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
I like to be aware of a book as a piece of writing, and aware of its structure as a product of… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
You can, in short, lead the life of the mind, which is, despite some appalling frustrations, the happiest life on earth. And… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as a dying friend. I hold its hand and… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“Get to work. Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the belt in the engine… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
On plenty of days the writer can write three or four pages, and on plenty of other days he concludes he must… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
Appealing workplaces are to be avoided. One wants a room with no view, so imagination can meet memory in the dark. — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
I cannot imagine a sorrier pursuit than struggling for years to write a book that attempts to appeal to people who do… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“The written word is weak. Many people prefer life to it. Life gets your blood going, and it smells good. Writing is… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
Evolution loves death more than it loves you or me. This is easy to write, easy to read, and hard to believe. — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“So it is that a writer writes many books. In each book, he intended several urgent and vivid points, many of which… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
The body of literature, with its limits and edges, exists outside some people and inside others. Only after the writer lets literature… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
The more you read, the more you will write. The better the stuff you read, the better the stuff you will write. — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“At night on land migrating monarchs slumber on certain trees, hung in festoons with wings folded together, thick on the trees and… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
It's a little silly to finally learn how to write at this age. But I long ago realized I was secretly sincere. — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“In working-class France, when an apprentice got hurt, or when he got tired, the experienced workers said "It is the trade entering… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“The death of self of which the great writers speak is no violent act. It is merely the joining of the great… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
The reader's ear must adjust down from loud life to the subtle, imaginary sounds of the written word. An ordinary reader picking… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“At its best, the sensation of writing is that of any unmerited grace. It is handed to you, but only if you… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent.” — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
Nothing moves a woman so deeply as the boyhood of the man she loves. — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
We live in all we seek. The hidden shows up in too-plain sight. It lives captive on the face of the obvious - the… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“...The mockingbird took a single step into the air and dropped. His wings were still folded against his sides as though he were singing… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“Father had stretched out his long legs and was tilting back in his chair. Mother sat with her knees crossed, in blue slacks, smoking… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
It should surprise no one that the life of the writer - such as it is - is colorless to the point of sensory… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
The sense impressions of one-celled animals are not edited for the brain. This is philosophically interesting in a rather mournful way, since it means… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? It is a kind of gratitude, I think—the gratitude of the ten-year-old who wakes… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
![“At night on land migrating monarchs slumber on certain trees, hung in festoons with wings folded together, thick on the trees and shaggy as bearskin. [p. 244]” quote by Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/165/annie-dillard-509_sleep_at-night-on-land-migrating-monarchs-slum_2929171.jpg)
