Disposition Quote by Dani Shapiro

A writer's work is to witness things.

— Edward Hoagland

I guess a witness is all I am. I think as a writer, you're pretty removed. Writing is a very selfish, individualistic pursuit. So…

— Sherman Alexie

If a writer is always trying to keep a narrator emitting a tone of complete knowingness, it can become false.

— Rachel Kushner

A writer is first and foremost a witness of her time. She must tell the truth, not take a political position. But then the…

— Dacia Maraini

The writer's job is not to judge, but to seek to understand.

— Ernest Hemingway

Any writer who pretends to a disaffection for recognition, I think they're being duplicitous.

— Harlan Ellison

The writer isn't made in a vacuum. Writers are witnesses. The reason we need writers is because we need witnesses to this terrifying century.

— E. L. Doctorow

The act of writing can be a form of release - a confession performs the same action: putting your inner life on the page…

— Connie Nielsen

The writer is either a practicing recluse or a delinquent, guilt-ridden one--or both. Usually both.

— Susan Sontag

That's what in theory differentiates a writer from everyone else. You see and hear more clearly.

— Don DeLillo

Part of being a writer is defending your vision and not caving in to outside pressures.

— Jennifer Crusie

At its best, the sensation of writing is that of any unmerited grace. It is handed to you, but only if you look for…

— Annie Dillard