Writers Quotes

2641 Writers quotes by 1655 unique authors

The sneakiest form of literary subtlety, in a corrupt society, is to speak the plain truth. The critics will not understand you; the public will… — Edward Abbey
Poets seem to write more easily about love than prose writers. For a start, they own that flexible ‘I’…. Then again, poets seem able to… — Julian Barnes
I have an ambition to write a great book, but that's really a competition with myself. I've noticed that a lot of young writers, people… — Zadie Smith
The writers against religion, whilst they oppose every system, are wisely careful never to set up any of their own. — Edmund Burke
What can we writers learn from lizards, lift from birds? In quickness is truth. The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more… — Ray Bradbury
You can’t learn to write in college. It’s a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you do—and… — Ray Bradbury
I think the criticism that I take to heart is from other writers that I respect. — Steve Earle
That's what fiction writers do: create characters and do terrible things to them for the entertainment of others. If they feel guilty enough, they write… — Garry Trudeau
As writers become more numerous, it is natural for readers to become more indolent; whence must necessarily arise a desire of attaining knowledge with the… — Oliver Goldsmith
Authors are far closer to the truths enfolded in mystery than ordinary people, because of that very audacity of imagination which irritates their plodding critics.… — Gertrude Atherton
Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds. Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice,… — Arundhati Roy
Sycophancy toward those who hold power is a fact in every regime, and especially in a democracy, where, unlike tyranny, there is an accepted principle… — Allan Bloom
The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers — Jacques Barzun
For the film maker must come by his convention, as painters and writers and musicians have done before him. — Virginia Woolf
Writers who used to show off their erudition no longer sing in the bare ruined choir of the media. — William Safire
So if I were talking to a young writer, I would recommend the cultivation of extreme indifference to both praise and blame because praise will… — John Berryman
As a form of moral insurance, at least, literature is much more dependable than a system of beliefs or a philosophical doctrine. Since there are… — Joseph Brodsky
Writers build castles in the air, the reader lives inside, and the publisher inns the rent. — Maxim Gorky
And all of these writers offer me a greater understanding of what it is to be alive, and that is such an incredible thing art… — PJ Harvey
The English may not always be the best writers in the world, but they are incomparably the best dull writers. — Raymond Chandler
Remember Graham Green's dictum that childhood is the bank balance of the writer? I think that all writers feel alienated. Most of us go back… — John le Carre
Poets are regarded as handicapped writers whose work must be treated with a tender condescension, such as one accords the athletic achievements of basketball players… — Thomas M. Disch
Writers must fortify themselves with pride and egotism as best they can. The process is analogous to using sandbags and loose timbers to protect a… — Brian Aldiss
Good writers are of necessity rare. — George Henry Lewes
Writers will be judged by what they write. — Raymond Carver

Who Wrote These Writers Quotes

1,655 authors contributed a total of 2,641 Writers Quotes, led by these top contributors: