Quotes by Novelist | Beyond Motive 25/280

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Quotes by Novelist

"If modesty and candor are necessary to an author in his judgment of his own works, no less are they in his reader."

"If modesty and candor are necessary to an author in his judgment of his own works, no less are they in his reader."

Sarah Fielding, British Novelist

Candor, Judgment, Modesty

5

"Sometimes you are being interviewed by someone and you think, if I knew this person they'd be my best friend. Other times you're being interviewed by a complete jerk."

"Sometimes you are being interviewed by someone and you think, if I knew this person they'd be my best friend. Other times you're being interviewed by a complete jerk."

Judith Guest, American Novelist

Friendship, Friend, Being

5

"True love stories never have endings."

"True love stories never have endings."

Richard Bach, American Novelist

5

"In this world, shipmates, sin that pays its way can travel freely, and without passport; whereas Virtue, if a pauper, is stopped at all frontiers."

"In this world, shipmates, sin that pays its way can travel freely, and without passport; whereas Virtue, if a pauper, is stopped at all frontiers."

Herman Melville, American Novelist

Life, Travel, Virtue, Sin, World

5

"Art for art's sake, money for God's sake."

"Art for art's sake, money for God's sake."

Simon Raven, English Novelist

Art, Money, God

5

"Lightning thief was good but the sea of monsters is better and has more action!"

"Lightning thief was good but the sea of monsters is better and has more action!"

Rick Riordan, American Novelist

Comparison, Today, Happiness, Truth, Power

5

"Growth itself contains the germ of happiness."

"Growth itself contains the germ of happiness."

Pearl S. Buck, American Novelist

Happiness, Growth

5

"A work of art has no importance whatever to society. It is only important to the individual."

"A work of art has no importance whatever to society. It is only important to the individual."

Vladimir Nabokov, American Novelist

Art, Work, Society, Importance

5

"For me, writing something down was the only road out."

"For me, writing something down was the only road out."

Anne Tyler, American Novelist

5

"The great question, is there anything at all which is worth fighting such a war about, with the devastating loss it will bring? I believe yes, there are some freedoms which to sacrifice would be EVEN worse."

"The great question, is there anything at all which is worth fighting such a war about, with the devastating loss it will bring? I believe yes, there are some freedoms which to sacrifice would be EVEN worse."

Anne Perry, British Novelist

War, Sacrifice, Fighting, Loss

5

"Arguments only confirm people in their own opinions."

"Arguments only confirm people in their own opinions."

Booth Tarkington, American Novelist

People, Arguments, Opinions

5

"One of the disadvantages of being a patrician is that occasionally you're obliged to act like one."

"One of the disadvantages of being a patrician is that occasionally you're obliged to act like one."

Dalton Trumbo, American Novelist

5

"Night comes to the desert all at once, as if someone turned off the light."

"Night comes to the desert all at once, as if someone turned off the light."

Joyce Carol Oates, American Novelist

Nature, Light, Night

5

"There's no reason you should write any novel quickly."

"There's no reason you should write any novel quickly."

John Irving, American Novelist

5

"Ah, well, the truth is always one thing, but in a way it's the other thing, the gossip, that counts. It shows where people's hearts lie."

"Ah, well, the truth is always one thing, but in a way it's the other thing, the gossip, that counts. It shows where people's hearts lie."

Paul Scott, British Novelist

Truth, Lie, People, Gossip

5

"You can't teach the old maestro a new tune."

"You can't teach the old maestro a new tune."

Jack Kerouac, American Novelist

5

"No one could be more happy than a man who has never known affliction."

"No one could be more happy than a man who has never known affliction."

Fay Weldon, English Novelist

Ignorance, Affliction, Man

5

"Entering by the carré, a piece of mirror-glass, set in an oaken cabinet, repeated my image. It said I was changed: my cheeks and lips were sodden white, my eyes were glassy, and my eyelids swollen and purple. On rejoining my companions, I knew they all looked at me - my heart seemed discovered to them: I believed myself self-betrayed. Hideously certain did it seem that the very youngest of the school must guess why and for whom I despaired."

"Entering by the carré, a piece of mirror-glass, set in an oaken cabinet, repeated my image. It said I was changed: my cheeks and lips were sodden white, my eyes were glassy, and my eyelids swollen and purple. On rejoining my companions, I knew they all looked at me - my heart seemed discovered to them: I believed myself self-betrayed. Hideously certain did it seem that the very youngest of the school must guess why and for whom I despaired."

Charlotte Bronte, British Novelist

Despair, Emotion, Grief, Isolation

5

"I wrote two plotted books, got some of the fundamentals of storytelling down, then... it's sort of like taking the training wheels off, trying to write a book that's fun in the same way without relying on quite such mechanical or external beats."

"I wrote two plotted books, got some of the fundamentals of storytelling down, then... it's sort of like taking the training wheels off, trying to write a book that's fun in the same way without relying on quite such mechanical or external beats."

Jonathan Franzen, American Novelist

Books, Fun, Training, Trying

5

"His lordship may compel us to be equal upstairs, but there will never be equality in the servants' hall."

"His lordship may compel us to be equal upstairs, but there will never be equality in the servants' hall."

J. M. Barrie, Scottish Novelist

Equality, May, Will

5

"Sometimes you can do all the right things and not succeed. And that's a hard lesson of reality."

"Sometimes you can do all the right things and not succeed. And that's a hard lesson of reality."

Donna Tartt, American Novelist

Reality, Right, Succeed

5

"Get tough: don't work under pressure; work over pressure."

"Get tough: don't work under pressure; work over pressure."

Brian Celio, American Novelist

5

"A novel usually takes me two years. A year to research and plan and dream. Then a year to write."

"A novel usually takes me two years. A year to research and plan and dream. Then a year to write."

Rose Tremain, English Novelist

Dream, Research, Years

5

"I've already told you: the only way to a woman's heart is along the path of torment. I know none other as sure."

"I've already told you: the only way to a woman's heart is along the path of torment. I know none other as sure."

Marquis de Sade, French Novelist

5

"One may speak about anything on earth with fire, with enthusiasm, with ecstasy, but one only speaks about oneself with avidity."

"One may speak about anything on earth with fire, with enthusiasm, with ecstasy, but one only speaks about oneself with avidity."

Ivan Turgenev, Russian Novelist

Enthusiasm, Earth, Ecstasy, Fire

5

"Circumstances define us; they force us onto one road or another, and then they punish us for it."

"Circumstances define us; they force us onto one road or another, and then they punish us for it."

Ivan Turgenev, Russian Novelist

Circumstance, Circumstances, Force, Road

5

"Bring the army of the faithful through."

"Bring the army of the faithful through."

George Meredith, English Novelist

5

"Authority has every reason to fear the skeptic, for authority can rarely survive in the face of doubt."

"Authority has every reason to fear the skeptic, for authority can rarely survive in the face of doubt."

Vita Sackville-West, English Novelist

Fear, Authority, Doubt, Reason

5

"If the Barbarians are destroyed, who will we then be able to blame for the bad things?"

"If the Barbarians are destroyed, who will we then be able to blame for the bad things?"

Angela Carter, English Novelist

5

"The more potent, unasked question is how society at large reacts to eager, voluntary violence by females, and to the growing evidence that women can be just as aggressive as men."

"The more potent, unasked question is how society at large reacts to eager, voluntary violence by females, and to the growing evidence that women can be just as aggressive as men."

Katherine Dunn, American Novelist

Man, Men, Society, Women, Question

5

"Man, born of woman, has found it a hard thing to forgive her for giving him birth. The patriarchal protest against the ancient matriarch has borne strange fruit through the years."

"Man, born of woman, has found it a hard thing to forgive her for giving him birth. The patriarchal protest against the ancient matriarch has borne strange fruit through the years."

Lillian Smith, American Novelist

Society, Giving, Man, Protest, Woman

5

"On the streets, unrequited love and death go together almost as often as in Shakespeare."

"On the streets, unrequited love and death go together almost as often as in Shakespeare."

Scott Turow, American Novelist

Love, Death, Shakespeare

5

"A woman can look both moral and exciting... if she also looks as if it was quite a struggle."

"A woman can look both moral and exciting... if she also looks as if it was quite a struggle."

Edna Ferber, American Novelist

Appearance, Struggle, Woman

5

"I worked in Hollywood as a reader and a would-be writer for about 6 years before I sold my first story."

"I worked in Hollywood as a reader and a would-be writer for about 6 years before I sold my first story."

Sidney Sheldon, American Novelist

Hollywood, First, Writer, Years

5

"A theater person should know what holds an audience and what does not."

"A theater person should know what holds an audience and what does not."

Robert Ludlum, American Novelist

Theatre, Theater

5

"True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new."

"True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French Novelist

Happiness, Deeds, Joy, Zest

5

"In life there are no problems, that is, objective and external choices; there is only the life which we do not resolve as a problem but which we live as an experience, whatever the final result may be."

"In life there are no problems, that is, objective and external choices; there is only the life which we do not resolve as a problem but which we live as an experience, whatever the final result may be."

Alberto Moravia, Italian Novelist

Life, Experience, Choices, May

5

"There is no great sport in having bullets flying about one in every direction, but I find they have less horror when among them than when in anticipation."

"There is no great sport in having bullets flying about one in every direction, but I find they have less horror when among them than when in anticipation."

Umberto Eco, Italian Novelist

Danger, Anticipation, Direction, Flying, Horror

5

"One man scorned and covered with scars still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars; and the world will be better for this."

"One man scorned and covered with scars still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars; and the world will be better for this."

Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish Novelist

Courage, Man, Stars, Will

5

"The man I am will always raise a protest against the man I wanted to be and the two will live together to the end, but the man I wanted to be will be the one on whom judgement will be passed."

"The man I am will always raise a protest against the man I wanted to be and the two will live together to the end, but the man I wanted to be will be the one on whom judgement will be passed."

Julien Green, American Novelist

Identity, End, Man, Protest, Will

5

"I write my own quotes. Except this one. I obviously stole this from somebody really clever."

"I write my own quotes. Except this one. I obviously stole this from somebody really clever."

Brian Celio, American Novelist

Creativity, Quotes

5

"When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive."

"When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive."

Alan Paton, South African Novelist

Forgiveness, Deep, Injury, Southafrican

5

"Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists."

"Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists."

Norman Mailer, American Novelist

5

"What delights us in visible beauty is the invisible."

"What delights us in visible beauty is the invisible."

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian Novelist

5

"To be anywhere near an enormous ocean liner when you are just like a fish in the water is frightening."

"To be anywhere near an enormous ocean liner when you are just like a fish in the water is frightening."

John C. Hawkes, American Novelist

Danger, Fish, Ocean, Water

5

"If consumers found fulfillment at any meaningful level, she extemporized, corpocracy would be finished."

"If consumers found fulfillment at any meaningful level, she extemporized, corpocracy would be finished."

David Mitchell, British Novelist

Consumer, Fulfillment, Emptiness, Desire

5

"Looking back, I understand that I was teaching myself to write."

"Looking back, I understand that I was teaching myself to write."

Mary Wesley, British Novelist

Learning, Teaching

5

"A stale article, if you dip it in a good, warm, sunny smile, will go off better than a fresh one that you've scowled upon."

"A stale article, if you dip it in a good, warm, sunny smile, will go off better than a fresh one that you've scowled upon."

Nathaniel Hawthorne, American Novelist

Emotional, Smile, Will

5

"Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?"

"Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?"

Richard Bach, American Novelist

Friendship, Love, Friends, Want

5

"The way to beat Luke," he said. "If I'm right, it's the only way you'll stand a chance."I took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm listening."Nico glanced inside my room. His eyebrows furrowed."Is that...is that blue birthday cake?"He sounded hungry, maybe a little wistful. I wondered if the poor kid had ever had a birthday party, or if he'd ever even been invited to one.:Come inside for cake and ice cream," I said. "It sounds like we've got a lot to talk about."

"The way to beat Luke," he said. "If I'm right, it's the only way you'll stand a chance."I took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm listening."Nico glanced inside my room. His eyebrows furrowed."Is that...is that blue birthday cake?"He sounded hungry, maybe a little wistful. I wondered if the poor kid had ever had a birthday party, or if he'd ever even been invited to one.:Come inside for cake and ice cream," I said. "It sounds like we've got a lot to talk about."

Rick Riordan, American Novelist

Reconciliation, Friendship, Truth, Wisdom, Happiness

5

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