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
The sensation of writing a book is the sensation of spinning, blinded by love and daring. — 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
A writer looking for subjects inquires not after what he loves best, but after what he alone loves at all. — 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, right away, every… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
I write in my own journal when something extraordinary or funny happens. And there's some nice imagery in there. I don't think… — 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 deprivation. Many… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
“Society places the writer so far beyond the pale that society does not regard the writer at all.” — 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
“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
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
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
Why do you never find anything written about that idiosyncratic thought you advert to, about your fascination with something no one else… — Annie Dillard Copy Share Image
Out of a human population on earth of four and a half billion, perhaps twenty people can write a book in a… — 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
“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
“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
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
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
“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
