Famously Said Random quote

Quotes about writing

377 quotes from 206 people

Most readBy personPage 4 of 26

We never sit anything out. We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.
Ray Bradbury1920–2012Zen in the Art of Writing (1990)
- Inspiration
Every author should weigh his work and ask, ‘Will humanity gain any benefit from it?’
NBNachman of Bratslav
I think the reason I choose the comic approach so often is because it’s harder, therefore affording me the opportunity to show off.
Rita Mae Brownborn 1944Starting from Scratch (1989)
- Humor
And I have written three books on the soul,
Proving absurd all written hitherto,
And putting us to ignorance again.
Robert Browning1812–1889Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919), Cleon.
- Knowledge
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton1803–1873Richelieu (1839), Act II, Scene II
If Shakespeare required a word and had not met it in civilised discourse, he unhesitatingly made it up.
Anthony Burgess1917–1993A Mouthful of Air: Language and Languages, Especially English (1992)
Cheat your landlord if you can and must, but do not try to shortchange the Muse. It cannot be done. You can’t fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.
William S. Burroughs1914–1997The Western Lands (1987), ch. 2
- Art
Avoid this crowd like the plague. And if they quote you, make damn sure they heard you.
Barbara Bush1925–2018Advice about news reporters, to incoming first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, on a tour of the White House, as quoted in Newsweek magazine (30 November 1992)
- Advice
- Journalism
Power can be very addictive. And it can be corrosive. And it’s important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power.
George W. Bushborn 1946Interview with Matt Lauer (2017)
- Journalism
- Power
Nothing is harder to understand than a symbolic work. A symbol always transcends the one who makes use of it and makes him say in reality more than he is aware of expressing.
Albert Camus1913–1960The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)
- Art
A character is never the author who created him. It is quite likely, however, that an author may be all his characters simultaneously.
Albert Camus1913–1960The Rebel (1951), Part 2: Metaphysical Rebellion
A well-written Life is almost as rare as a well-spent one.
Thomas Carlyle1795–1881Richter (1827).
- Life & Death
Literature is the Thought of thinking Souls.
Thomas Carlyle1795–1881Sir Walter Scott (1838)
- Reading
In every man’s writings, the character of the writer must lie recorded.
Thomas Carlyle1795–1881Goethe (1828).
- Character
Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporter’s Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all.
Thomas Carlyle1795–1881On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841), “The Hero as Man of Letters”
- Journalism