"Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself...It's a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent."

Writing, Expression, Art, Identity

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"Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself...It's a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent."

Exlpore more Writing quotes

"Writing. Is it a way to be remembered,or a need to become immortal?"

Toba Beta, Indonesian Author

Writing, Immortality, Truth, Future, Power

"I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine."

Emily Dickinson, American Poet

Writing, Word, Power, Expression

"Between the lines of every book the writer reveals their own secrets."

Chloe Thurlow, British Novelist

Writing, Secrets, Observation, Insight

"My whole theory of writing I can sum up in one sentence. An author ought to write for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward."

F. Scott Fitzgerald, American Author

Writing, Creativity, Youth, Legacy

"Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very"; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be."

Mark Twain, American Author

Writing, Time, Will

"Her love of words is a private passion - one she would rather not share. In the house of her childhood though everything had to be shared. If she tried to hold anything back, they would search and find the hidden places. Her written words, discovered, read were just the source of more pain and punishment. This was why she loved poetry. They did not always understand it so they left it alone."

bell hooks, American Critic

Writing, Word, Love, Poetry, Childhood

"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

"I never know what I think about something until I read what I've written on it."

William Faulkner, American Novelist

Writing, Read

"As a rule of thumb, four consecutive lines of dialogue is about as much as you want to have without a tag."

Diana Gabaldon, American Author

Writing, Dialogue, Clarity, Story

"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

Explore more quotes by Harper Lee

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view."

Empathy

"I think there might be a better way,change the law."

Justice

"With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable."

Relationship

"They had never been able to sustain fifteen minutes' conversation with one another without advancing irreconcilable points of view, invigorating in friendships, but in close blood relations producing only uneasy cordiality."

Relationship

"The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a court-room, be he any colour of the rainbow, but people have way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box."

Society

"There was nowhere to go, but I turned to go and met Atticus's vest front. I buried my head in it and listened to the small internal noises that went on behind the light blue cloth: his watch ticking, the faint crackle of his starched shirt, the soft sound of his breathing.'Your stomach's growling,' I said.'I know it,' he said."

Relationship

"Everybody's gotta learn, nobody's born knowing."

Education

"Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced."

Society

"The gum looked fresh. I sniffed it and it smelled all right. I licked it and waited for a while. When I did not die, I crammed it into my mouth: Wrigley's Double Mint."

Experience

"I willed myself to stay awake, but the rain was so soft and the room was so warm and his voice was so deep and his knee was so snug that I slept."

Comfort