Writing

Explore 39 quotes about Writing

A good writer seems to be writing about himself, (but never is,) but has his eye always on that thread of the Universe which runs through himself, & all things.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

More information about this quote

Topic

Good writing Universality of literature Writing

Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source

Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1867 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Personal journal entry. c. 1867.

Current Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The Portable Emerson, edited by Jeffrey S. Cramer. Penguin Classics, 2014.

When in doubt have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.

Raymond Chandler

Buy The Simple Art of Murder Buy The Simple Art of Murder

More information about this quote

Topic

Stories Plot Writing

Author

Raymond Chandler

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1950 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Chandler, Raymond. "The Simple Art of Murder." Saturday Review of Literature, 15 Apr. 1950, introduction.

When the grim reaper comes to get me, he'll have to give me a few extra hours to revise my last words.

Flannery O'Connor

More information about this quote

Topic

Grim reaper Death Last Words Editing Writing

Author

Flannery O'Connor

Source

Letters of Flannery O'Connor

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1959 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

O'Connor, Flannery. Letter to Catharine Carver. 27 Mar. 1959.

I discovered that my own little postage stamp of native soil was worth writing about and that I would never live long enough to exhaust it.

William Faulkner

Quoted in Paris Review

More information about this quote

Topic

Home Writing

Speaker

William Faulkner

Source

Art of Fiction interview Paris Review

Medium

Interview Magazine

Language

English

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Faulkner, William. "William Faulkner, The Art of Fiction No. 12." Interviewed by Jean Stein. Paris Review, Spring 1956.

Writing saved my life.

Slavoj Zizek

Read this interview at theguardian.com

More information about this quote

Topic

Writing as therapy Writing

Author

Slavoj Zizek

Source

The Guardian

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

2016 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Žižek, Slavoj. "This Much I Know." Guardian, 10 Dec. 2016, www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/10/slavoj-zizek-we-are-all-basically-evil-egotistical-disgusting.

Surely it is a magical thing for a handful of words, artfully arranged, to stop time. To conjure a place, a person, a situation, in all its specificity and dimensions. To affect us and alter us, as profoundly as real people and things do.

Jhumpa Lahiri

More information about this quote

Topic

Power of words Power of literature Literature Writing

Author

Jhumpa Lahiri

Source

The New York Times

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

2012 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lahiri, Jhumpa. "My Life's Sentences." Opinionator (blog). New York Times, 17 Mar. 2012, opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/17/my-lifes-sentences.

He that will write well in any tongue, must follow this counsel of Aristotle, to speak as the common people do, to think as the wise men do; and so should every man understand him, and the judgement of the wise man allow him.

Roger Ascham

More information about this quote

Topic

Writing

Author

Roger Ascham

Source

Toxophilus

Statement Type

Writing advice

Language

English

Time

1545 1540s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Ascham, Roger. "To All Gentlemen and Yeoman of England." Toxophilus. London: Murray, 1545.

Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of style.

Matthew Arnold

More information about this quote

Topic

Writing

Speaker

Matthew Arnold

Source

Collections and Recollections

Statement Type

Writing advice

Language

English

Time

1903 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Arnold, Matthew. Quoted in Collections and Recollections, written by G. W. E. Russell. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1898, ch. 14. Originally stated to Russell by Arnold c. 1890.

I keep writing about the ordinary because for me it's the home of the extraordinary.

Philip Levine

More information about this quote

Topic

Writing The ordinary and mundane

Speaker

Philip Levine

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

2001 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Levine, Philip. "The Unwritten Biography." Interviewed by Edward Hirsch. Poets.org, 29 Aug. 2001, poets.org/text/unwritten-biography-philip-levine-and-edward-hirsch-conversation.

I will write until my knuckles are worn and my brain bewildered, but I will write on and on.

William Styron

More information about this quote

Topic

Perseverance Dedication Writing

Author

William Styron

Source

Letters of William Styron

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Styron, William. Letter to William C. Styron Sr. 1 June 1951.

A successful book is not made of what is in it, but what is Left out of it.

Mark Twain

More information about this quote

Topic

Editing Writing

Author

Mark Twain

Source

Letters of Mark Twain

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1897 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Twain, Mark. Letter to Mr. Rogers. May 1897.

I don't wait to be struck by lightning and don't need certain slants of light in order to write.

Toni Morrison

More information about this quote

Topic

Inspiration Creative process Writing

Speaker

Toni Morrison

Source

The New Republic

Medium

Interview Magazine

Language

English

Time

1981 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Morrison, Toni. "The Language Must Not Sweat." Interviewed by Thomas LeClair. The New Republic, 21 Mar. 1981.

An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

More information about this quote

Topic

Punctuation Writing

Speaker

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Language

English

Time

20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Quoted in Beloved Infidel: The Education of a Woman, written by Sheilah Graham and Gerold Frank. Henry Holt, 1958, ch. 18.

The first draft of anything is shit.

Ernest Hemingway

More information about this quote

Topic

Incremental improvement Writing

Speaker

Ernest Hemingway

Source

With Hemingway: A Year in Key West and Cuba

Language

English

Time

1935 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Hemmingway, Ernest. Quoted in With Hemmingway: A Year in Key West and Cuba, by Arnold Samuelson. Random House, 1984.

I've often fantasized I would get a lot of writing done if I were put in prison for a minor crime. Three to six months.

Amy Tan

More information about this quote

Topic

Productivity Writing

Author

Amy Tan

Source

The New York Times

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

2013 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Tan, Amy. "Amy Tan: By the Book." The New York Times, 14 Nov. 2013.

I want to write so that the reader in Des Moines, Iowa, in Kowloon, China, in Cape Town, South Africa, can say, "You know, that's the truth. I wasn't there, and I wasn't a six-foot black girl, but that's the truth."

Maya Angelou

More information about this quote

Topic

Universality of literature Power of literature Writing

Speaker

Maya Angelou

Source

Time Magazine

Medium

Interview Magazine

Language

English

Time

2013 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Angelou, Maya. Interviewed by Belinda Luscome. Time, 8 Apr. 2013.

I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil.

Truman Capote

More information about this quote

Topic

Editing Writing

Speaker

Truman Capote

Source

Conversations with Capote

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Capote, Truman. Conversations with Truman Capote, written by Lawrence Grobel. Dutton, 1985. Originally an interview with Lawrence Grobel, c. 1985.

Your language becomes clear and strong, not when you can no longer add a sentence, but when you can no longer take away from it.

Isaac Babel

Quoted in The New Yorker

More information about this quote

Topic

Writing

Speaker

Isaac Babel

Source

The New Yorker

Medium

Magazine

Statement Type

Writing advice

Language

English

Time

1940 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Babel, Isaac. Quoted in "Hide and Seek: The Complete Isaac Babel." Written by John Updike. The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2001.

Words have weight, sound, and appearance; it is only by considering these that you can write a sentence that is good to look at and good to listen to.

W. Somerset Maugham

More information about this quote

Topic

Words Good writing Writing

Author

W. Somerset Maugham

Source

The Summing Up

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1948 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Maugham, William Somerset. The Summing Up. Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1938, ch. 13.