Compassion Quote by Hilary Mantel

Safety, reputation, their lives, their friends, and their world. Writers typically try to avoid that because it's not expedient.

— Christopher Bollen

Most writers I know move back and forth between the rational and the intuitive, though there are some who approach writing very rationally, and…

— Peter Turchi

Writers are diffident creatures -- they need encouragement.

— Agatha Christie

“Writers are creatures of habit, as are humans, but writers aren’t necessarily human, are they?”

— Alyssa Hubbard

Every compulsion is put upon writers to become safe, polite, obedient, and sterile.

— Sinclair Lewis

“Writers by nature are subversive, observant, and discerning, and their voice contains that.”

— Amy Tan

Writers must fortify themselves with pride and egotism as best they can. The process is analogous to using sandbags and loose timbers to protect…

— Anonymous

There are a lot of people who write very intensely about things they do not and cannot do.

— Theodore Sturgeon

“Writers, to my way of thinking, are no more free in their choices than most people. Our material chooses us; certain things engage us,…

— Tobias Wolff

My sensibility steers me toward writers who are out on their own.

— Tahar Ben Jelloun

I write because something inner and unconscious forces me to. That is the first compulsion. The second is one of ethical and moral duty.…

— David Guterson

Writers are interesting people, but often mean and petty.

— Lillian Hellman