Quotes by Novelist | Beyond Motive 13/313

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Quotes by Novelist

"You have a... remarkable memory.""I remember everything about you. You're the one who wasn't paying attention."

"You have a... remarkable memory.""I remember everything about you. You're the one who wasn't paying attention."

Suzanne Collins, American Novelist

Memory, Perception, Truth, Life

14

"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward in the same direction."

"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward in the same direction."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French Novelist

Life, Love, Direction

14

"Shock is a merciful condition. It allows you to get through disaster with a necessary distance between you and your feelings."

"Shock is a merciful condition. It allows you to get through disaster with a necessary distance between you and your feelings."

Lisa Kleypas, American Novelist

Trauma, Disaster, Feelings, Distance, Emotion

14

"The law condemns and punishes only actions within certain definite and narrow limits; it thereby justifies, in a way, all similar actions that lie outside those limits."

"The law condemns and punishes only actions within certain definite and narrow limits; it thereby justifies, in a way, all similar actions that lie outside those limits."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

Lie, Actions, Law, Limits

14

"Solitude is fine, but you need someone to tell you that solitude is fine."

"Solitude is fine, but you need someone to tell you that solitude is fine."

Honore de Balzac, French Novelist

Emotional, Solitude

14

"Yes, I am white now,' said Gandalf. 'Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been."

"Yes, I am white now,' said Gandalf. 'Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been."

J. R. R. Tolkien, English Novelist

Power, Identity, Transformation, Wisdom

14

"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him."

"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him."

J. R. R. Tolkien, English Novelist

Planning, Calculations

14

"Sentimentality is the emotional promiscuity of those who have no sentiment."

"Sentimentality is the emotional promiscuity of those who have no sentiment."

Norman Mailer, American Novelist

Sentimentality, Sentiment

14

"Even in war there should be lines you didn't cross."

"Even in war there should be lines you didn't cross."

Suzanne Collins, American Novelist

Ethics, Morality, War, Humanity

14

"Writing stopped being fun when I discovered the difference between good writing and bad and, even more terrifying, the difference between it and true art. And after that, the whip came down."

"Writing stopped being fun when I discovered the difference between good writing and bad and, even more terrifying, the difference between it and true art. And after that, the whip came down."

Truman Capote, American Novelist

Art, Being, Difference, Fun

14

"We walked to meet each other up at the time of our love and then we have been irresistibly drifting in different directions, and there's no altering that."

"We walked to meet each other up at the time of our love and then we have been irresistibly drifting in different directions, and there's no altering that."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

Relationship, Love, Change, Time

14

"Just as a painter needs light in order to put the finishing touches to his picture, so I need an inner light, which I feel I never have enough of in the autumn."

"Just as a painter needs light in order to put the finishing touches to his picture, so I need an inner light, which I feel I never have enough of in the autumn."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

Inspirational, Light, Autumn, Creativity, Hope

14

"I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life."

"I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life."

J. D. Salinger, American Novelist

14

"There is the darkness that frightens, the darkness that soothes, the darkness that is restful."

"There is the darkness that frightens, the darkness that soothes, the darkness that is restful."

Sarah J. Maas, American Novelist

Darkness, Fear, Comfort, Rest

14

"Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we cannot get on without it any more than we can without potatoes."

"Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we cannot get on without it any more than we can without potatoes."

Louisa May Alcott, American Novelist

14

"When the severity of the law is to be softened, let pity, not bribes, be the motive."

"When the severity of the law is to be softened, let pity, not bribes, be the motive."

Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish Novelist

Law, Motive, Pity

14

"Self-sacrifice which denies common sense is not a virtue. It's a spiritual dissipation."

"Self-sacrifice which denies common sense is not a virtue. It's a spiritual dissipation."

Margaret Deland, American Novelist

Virtue, Commonsense, Self, Spiritual

14

"To love someone means to see him as God intended him."

"To love someone means to see him as God intended him."

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian Novelist

14

"My fault, my failure, is not in the passions I have, but in my lack of control of them."

"My fault, my failure, is not in the passions I have, but in my lack of control of them."

Jack Kerouac, American Novelist

Self-Control, Control, Failure, Fault

14

"The poem is a little myth of man's capacity of making life meaningful. And in the end, the poem is not a thing we see-it is, rather, a light by which we may see-and what we see is life."

"The poem is a little myth of man's capacity of making life meaningful. And in the end, the poem is not a thing we see-it is, rather, a light by which we may see-and what we see is life."

Robert Penn Warren, American Novelist

Life, End, Light, Man

14

"The writer's duty is to keep on writing."

"The writer's duty is to keep on writing."

William Styron, American Novelist

Duty, Writer, Writing

14

"A Catholic is raised with the idea that he will die any minute now and if he doesn't live his life in a certain way, this death is an introduction to an eternity of pain."

"A Catholic is raised with the idea that he will die any minute now and if he doesn't live his life in a certain way, this death is an introduction to an eternity of pain."

Don DeLillo, American Novelist

Death, Life, Idea, Eternity

14

"In youth we learn; in age we understand."

"In youth we learn; in age we understand."

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian Novelist

14

"It's not surprising to see in my own work, looking back, and in the work of some of my peers, an attention to family. It's nice to write a book that does tend toward significance and meaning, and where else are you sure of finding it?"

"It's not surprising to see in my own work, looking back, and in the work of some of my peers, an attention to family. It's nice to write a book that does tend toward significance and meaning, and where else are you sure of finding it?"

Jonathan Franzen, American Novelist

Work, Family, Attention, Meaning

14

"I have known him (Micawber) come home to supper with a flood of tears and a declaration that nothing was now left but a jail and go to bed making a calculation of the expense of putting bow-windows to the house "in case anything turned up " which was his favorite expression."

"I have known him (Micawber) come home to supper with a flood of tears and a declaration that nothing was now left but a jail and go to bed making a calculation of the expense of putting bow-windows to the house "in case anything turned up " which was his favorite expression."

Charles Dickens, English Novelist

Resilience, Tears, Hope, Home, Uncertainty

14

"Aeneas carried his aged father on his back from the ruins of Troy and so do we all, whether we like it or not, perhaps even if we have never known them."

"Aeneas carried his aged father on his back from the ruins of Troy and so do we all, whether we like it or not, perhaps even if we have never known them."

Angela Carter, English Novelist

14

"It's true, life really is generous to those who pursue their Personal Legend."

"It's true, life really is generous to those who pursue their Personal Legend."

Paulo Coelho, Brazilian Novelist

Inspirational, Life, Generosity, Pursuit, Success

14

"Love is a great beautifier."

"Love is a great beautifier."

Louisa May Alcott, American Novelist

14

"The most important questions in life can never be answered by anyone except oneself."

"The most important questions in life can never be answered by anyone except oneself."

John Fowles, English Novelist

Life, Questions

14

"This head has risen above its hair in a moment of abandon known only to men who have drawn their feet out of their boots to walk awhile in the corridors of the mind."

"This head has risen above its hair in a moment of abandon known only to men who have drawn their feet out of their boots to walk awhile in the corridors of the mind."

Djuna Barnes, American Novelist

Man, Men, Feet, Hair, Mind

14

"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

Kenneth Grahame, Scottish Novelist

Adventure, Boats, Nothing, Worth

13

"Avoid the world, it's just a lot of dust and drag and means nothing in the end."

"Avoid the world, it's just a lot of dust and drag and means nothing in the end."

Jack Kerouac, American Novelist

Wisdom, End, Nothing, World

13

"I wrote because I needed to and wanted to. It never occurred to me that I'd become famous."

"I wrote because I needed to and wanted to. It never occurred to me that I'd become famous."

Danielle Steel, American Novelist

13

"It's hard to tell whether the ship or airplane - they're all the same, I'm convinced - is male or female; it may shift back and forth."

"It's hard to tell whether the ship or airplane - they're all the same, I'm convinced - is male or female; it may shift back and forth."

John C. Hawkes, American Novelist

13

"Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre."

"Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre."

Gail Godwin, American Novelist

Teaching, Preparation, Theatre

13

"The Japanese have perfected good manners and made them indistinguishable from rudeness."

"The Japanese have perfected good manners and made them indistinguishable from rudeness."

Paul Theroux, American Novelist

Etiquette, Manners, Rudeness

13

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

Elie Wiesel, American Novelist

Education, Neutrality, Silence, Suffering

13

"My father's parents were Irish. Only a year before my father died, he and I went back to Ireland for a week to look at the old homestead."

"My father's parents were Irish. Only a year before my father died, he and I went back to Ireland for a week to look at the old homestead."

John C. Hawkes, American Novelist

Family, Father, Ireland, Irish, Old

13

"To escape jury duty in England, wear a bowler hat and carry a copy of the Daily telegraph."

"To escape jury duty in England, wear a bowler hat and carry a copy of the Daily telegraph."

John Mortimer, English Novelist

Duty, England, Jury

13

"What is the use being a big man if you are wrong?"

"What is the use being a big man if you are wrong?"

John Dos Passos, American Novelist

Being, Man, Wrong

13

"Art is the objectification of feeling."

"Art is the objectification of feeling."

Herman Melville, American Novelist

Creativity, Art, Feeling

13

"Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add but when there is no longer anything to take away, when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness."

"Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add but when there is no longer anything to take away, when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French Novelist

Body, Perfection

13

"You must realize that one day you will die. Until then you are worthless."

"You must realize that one day you will die. Until then you are worthless."

Chuck Palahniuk, American Novelist

Awareness, Day, Will

13

"The king died and then the queen died is a story. The king died, and then queen died of grief is a plot."

"The king died and then the queen died is a story. The king died, and then queen died of grief is a plot."

E. M. Forster, English Novelist

13

"There is no gilding of setting sun or glamor of poetry to light up the ferocious and endless toil of the farmers' wives."

"There is no gilding of setting sun or glamor of poetry to light up the ferocious and endless toil of the farmers' wives."

Hamlin Garland, American Novelist

Poetry, Light, Sun, Wives

13

"It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness."

"It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

Beauty, Delusion, Goodness

13

"Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, this it overflows upon the outward world."

"Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, this it overflows upon the outward world."

Nathaniel Hawthorne, American Novelist

Love, Heart, World

13

"The worst thing that being an artist could do to you would be that it would make you slightly unhappy constantly."

"The worst thing that being an artist could do to you would be that it would make you slightly unhappy constantly."

J. D. Salinger, American Novelist

Unhappiness, Artist, Being

13

"Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its ragged edges."

"Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its ragged edges."

Herman Melville, American Novelist

13

"We must believe in free will, we have no choice."

"We must believe in free will, we have no choice."

Isaac Bashevis Singer, American Novelist

Choice, Freewill

13

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