“All to often, on the long road up, young leaders become servants of what is rather than shapers of what might be.” — John Gardner Conformity Copy Share Image
When I was a child I truly loved: Unthinking love as calm and deep As the North Sea. But I have lived,… — John Gardner Calm Copy Share Image
“They only think they think. No total vision, total system, merely schemes with a vague family resemblance, no more identity than bridges… — John Gardner Dreams Copy Share Image
“Except in stock locutions, such as "You were paid yesterday," "The Germans were defeated," or "The project was abandoned," the passive voice… — John Gardner Bad writing Copy Share Image
“The instruction here is not for every kind of writer - not for the writer of nurse books or thrillers or porno… — John Gardner Authors Copy Share Image
“Good writers may “tell” about almost anything in fiction except the characters’ feelings. One may tell the reader that the character went… — John Gardner Storytelling Copy Share Image
“the chief offense in bad fiction: we sense that characters are being manipulated, forced to do things they would not really do.” — John Gardner Copy Share Image
“There seems little or no hope for the adult writer who produces sentences like these: "Her cheeks were thick and smooth and… — John Gardner Hope Copy Share Image
“In any long fiction, Henry James remarked, use of the first-person point of view is barbaric. James may go too far, but… — John Gardner First person Copy Share Image
Nothing can be more limiting to the imagination than only writing about what you know — John Gardner Imagination Copy Share Image
A nation that values bad philosophy above good plumbing will have neither good philosophy nor good plumbing — John Gardner Bad ideas Copy Share Image
The citizen can bring our political and governmental institutions back to life, make them responsive and accountable, and keep them honest. No… — John Gardner Citizens Copy Share Image
Talking, talking. Spinning a web of words, pale walls of dreams, between myself and all I see. — John Gardner Dreams Copy Share Image
“In writing short stories—as in writing novels—take one thing at a time. (For some writers, this advice I'm giving may apply best… — John Gardner Short stories Copy Share Image
All order, I've come to understand, is theoretical, unreal, a harmless, sensible, smiling mask men slide between the two great, dark realities,… — John Gardner Illusion Copy Share Image
One of the many interesting challenges nature presents us is its apparent disinterest in maintaining the order humans crave. — John Gardner Challenges Copy Share Image
“I was younger then. Still playing cat and mouse with the universe.” — John Gardner Cat and mouse Copy Share Image
“How, if I know all this, you may ask, could I hound him – shatter him again and again, drive him deeper… — John Gardner Kindness Copy Share Image
The hero sees values beyond what's possible. That's the nature of a hero. It kills him, of course, ultimately. But it makes… — John Gardner Hero Copy Share Image
“A good writer is likely to know and use, or find out and use, the words for common architectural features, like "lintel,"… — John Gardner Family Copy Share Image
“Where religious values might be relative, intellectual values fleeting, moral values ambiguous, and aesthetic values dependent upon an observer, the existence of… — John Gardner Moral values Copy Share Image
“Theme is not imposed on the story but evoke from within it--initally an intuitive but finally an intellectual act on the part… — John Gardner Storytelling Copy Share Image
“The age old idea of human dignity comes to apply even to the indigent, even to the slaves, even to immigrants, now… — John Gardner Art Copy Share Image
“Character is the very life of fiction. Setting exists only so that the character has someplace to stand. Plot exists so the… — John Gardner Life Copy Share Image
“It is for this reason that Aristotle recommends that the writer begin "in the middle of things" and fill in the exposition… — John Gardner Writing Copy Share Image
