Author Quotes

1140 quotes by 841 authors

The author himself is the best judge of his own performance; none has so deeply meditated on the subject; none is so sincerely interested in… — Edward Gibbon
A creation of importance can only be produced when its author isolates himself, it is a child of solitude. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Every author in some way portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I can't change overnight into a serious literary author. You can't compare apples to oranges. William Faulkner was a great literary genius. I am not. — John Grisham
Becoming an author changes your attitude too. Once you see where books come from, and how they're made, they never seem quite as sacred again. — Lev Grossman
Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his… — Sidonie Gabrielle Colette
Every song has a composer, every book has an author, every car has a maker, every painting has a painter, and every building has a… — Ray Comfort
The way a book is read, which is to say, the qualities a reader brings to a book can have as much to do with… — Norman Cousins
For me, titles are either a natural two-second experience or stressful enough to give you an ulcer. If they don't pop out perfect on the… — Sloane Crosley
My grandmother was a kind of Scarsdale, New York, society woman, best known in her day as the author of the 1959 book 'Growing Your… — Sloane Crosley
After all, it is style alone by which posterity will judge of a great work, for an author can have nothing truly his own but… — Isaac D'Israeli
Ideas improve. The meaning of words participates in the improvement. Plagiarism is necessary. Progress implies it. It embraces an author's phrase, makes use of his… — Guy Debord
Being an author is always like being a well-run dictatorship - it's all one person speaking. — Junot Diaz
An author who speaks about their own books is almost as bad as a mother who speaks about her own children. — Benjamin Disraeli
The greatest king of Israel, King David, the author of the Psalms, sent a man out to die in battle so that he could sleep… — Robert Duvall
The author may not interpret. But he must tell why and how he wrote his book. — Umberto Eco
Don't patronize the chain bookstores. Every time I see some author scheduled to read and sign his books at a chain bookstore, I feel like… — Lawrence Ferlinghetti
I always point people to the article '1,000 True Fans' by Kevin Kelly. If you choose your thousand ideal customers or readers properly and find… — Tim Ferriss
Asking the author of historical novels to teach you about history is like expecting the composer of a melody to provide answers about radio transmission. — Lion Feuchtwanger
An author ought to write for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmaster of ever afterwards. — F. Scott Fitzgerald

Who Wrote These Author Quotes

841 authors contributed a total of 1,140 Author Quotes, led by these top contributors: