"A novelist should not be too intelligent either, although... he may be permitted to be an intellectual."

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"A novelist should not be too intelligent either, although... he may be permitted to be an intellectual."

Exlpore more Writing quotes

"And there never was an apple, in Adam's opinion, that wasn't worth the trouble you got into for eating it."

Neil Gaiman, British Author

Writing, Eating, Opinion, Trouble, Worth

"In the middle section of the book Mirabelle breaks into not one, but two houses near Belgravia Books. I had fun scoping these out - checking which windows looked least secure and figuring out how to scale the mews houses to the rear to get her inside. A man came out at one point, 'What are you doing?' he questioned me. 'The thing is, I'm writing a book,' I started with a smile. He waved me off, his hand as wide as a tennis racket. 'Everyone is writing a book, my dear,' he said. Between you and I, it's his house that MIrabelle ends up breaking into."

Sara Sheridan, Scottish Author

Writing, Creativity, Story, Research, Imagination

"Some writers write to forget. Some forget to write."

Mokokoma Mokhonoana, South African Philosopher

Writing, Truth, Wisdom, Life, Power

"I write because, as wonderful as life is - and it is truly wonderful - it isn't enough. It does not, for example, contain dragons. I find this unsatisfactory. So I read. And I write."

Laini Taylor, American Novelist

Writing, Creativity, Imagination, Desire, Life

"After each of his books, the writer, for a while, feels once again that he can now die happy."

Criss Jami, American Philosopher

Writing, Truth, Wisdom, Life, Power

"When you put down the good things you ought to have done and leave out the bad things you did do - well that's memoirs."

Will Rogers, American Actor

Writing, Truth, Memory, Selective

"I've never shown anybody a draft of anything."

Shelby Foote, American Author

Writing, Draft

"In writing, you must kill all your darlings."

William Faulkner, American Novelist

Writing, Editing, Discipline, Art

"I think politics is deadly to write about, frankly. If you have a political agenda and you set out to write a novel to prove that, say, capitalism should crumble, then it's going to be a really bad novel. Very few people have been able to deal with political fiction - Dickens, Dostoyevsky. But even Tolstoy got really tiresome when he was talking about the serfs. You have to let characters be characters, not [gruff voice] Mr Capitalism or [girlie voice] Miss Anti-Fur."

Donna Tartt, American Novelist

Writing, Politics, Art, Creativity

"And I don't want to begin something, I don't want to write that first sentence until all the important connections in the novel are known to me. As if the story has already taken place, and it's my responsibility to put it in the right order to tell it to you."

John Irving, American Novelist

Writing, First, Order, Responsibility, Right

Explore more quotes by Anthony Burgess

"The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent, experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it, if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something."

Mistake

"Readers are plentiful: thinkers are rare."

Reading

"Life is a wretched gray Saturday, but it has to be lived through."

Life

"If you believe in an unseen Christ, you will believe in the unseen Christlike potential of others."

Christian

"The unconscious mind has a habit of asserting itself in the afternoon."

Habit

"Americans will listen, but they do not care to read. War and Peace must wait for the leisure of retirement, which never really comes: meanwhile it helps to furnish the living room."

Peace

"Books in a large university library system: 2,000,000. Books in an average large city library: 10,000. Average number of books in a chain bookstore: 30,000. Books in an average neighborhood branch library: 20,000."

Books

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Exlpore more Writing quotes

"And there never was an apple, in Adam's opinion, that wasn't worth the trouble you got into for eating it."

"Some writers write to forget. Some forget to write."

"I write because, as wonderful as life is - and it is truly wonderful - it isn't enough. It does not, for example, contain dragons. I find this unsatisfactory. So I read. And I write."

"After each of his books, the writer, for a while, feels once again that he can now die happy."

"When you put down the good things you ought to have done and leave out the bad things you did do - well that's memoirs."

"I've never shown anybody a draft of anything."

"In writing, you must kill all your darlings."

"And I don't want to begin something, I don't want to write that first sentence until all the important connections in the novel are known to me. As if the story has already taken place, and it's my responsibility to put it in the right order to tell it to you."

Explore more quotes by Anthony Burgess

"The downtrodden are the great creators of slang."

"Every dogma has its day."

"He said it was artificial respiration, but now I find I am to have his child."

"The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent, experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it, if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something."

"Readers are plentiful: thinkers are rare."

"Life is a wretched gray Saturday, but it has to be lived through."

"If you believe in an unseen Christ, you will believe in the unseen Christlike potential of others."

"The unconscious mind has a habit of asserting itself in the afternoon."

"Americans will listen, but they do not care to read. War and Peace must wait for the leisure of retirement, which never really comes: meanwhile it helps to furnish the living room."

"Books in a large university library system: 2,000,000. Books in an average large city library: 10,000. Average number of books in a chain bookstore: 30,000. Books in an average neighborhood branch library: 20,000."