Quotes by Novelist | Beyond Motive 27/280

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Quotes by Novelist

"The part of my writing I find the most rewarding is when people write to me or speak to me in public to tell me how his or her life has been changed by my books."

"The part of my writing I find the most rewarding is when people write to me or speak to me in public to tell me how his or her life has been changed by my books."

Sidney Sheldon, American Novelist

Life, People, Books, Public

5

"When I get this feeling, this compulsion, I always do what it tells me. I can't explain where it comes from or how I get it, and it doesn't happen very often. But I obey it. And this afternoon I had a feeling that I must come over to the haunted house. That's all I know, kid. I'm not holding anything back. Maybe it's because I'm supposed to meet you. You tell me."

"When I get this feeling, this compulsion, I always do what it tells me. I can't explain where it comes from or how I get it, and it doesn't happen very often. But I obey it. And this afternoon I had a feeling that I must come over to the haunted house. That's all I know, kid. I'm not holding anything back. Maybe it's because I'm supposed to meet you. You tell me."

Madeleine L'Engle, American Novelist

Intuition, Fate, Destiny, Feeling

5

"To eat bread without hope is still slowly to starve to death."

"To eat bread without hope is still slowly to starve to death."

Pearl S. Buck, American Novelist

5

"We must love one another, yes, yes, that's all true enough, but nothing says we have to like each other."

"We must love one another, yes, yes, that's all true enough, but nothing says we have to like each other."

Peter De Vries, American Novelist

5

"And I don't like books which are full of name dropping."

"And I don't like books which are full of name dropping."

Daphne du Maurier, English Novelist

5

"Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable."

"Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable."

Franz Kafka, Austrian Novelist

Morality, Right

5

"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain," she said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."

"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain," she said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."

Rick Riordan, American Novelist

Guidance, Power, Truth, Wisdom, Inspirational

5

"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't."

"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't."

Anatole France, French Novelist

Education, Being, Memory

5

"Looking at the elementary schoolers in their colorful T-shirts from various day camps, Percy felt a twinge of sadness. He should be at Camp Half-Blood right now, settling into his cabin for the summer, teaching sword-fighting lessons in the arena, playing pranks on the other counselors. These kids had no idea just how crazy a summer camp could be."

"Looking at the elementary schoolers in their colorful T-shirts from various day camps, Percy felt a twinge of sadness. He should be at Camp Half-Blood right now, settling into his cabin for the summer, teaching sword-fighting lessons in the arena, playing pranks on the other counselors. These kids had no idea just how crazy a summer camp could be."

Rick Riordan, American Novelist

Memory, Nostalgia, Truth, Life, Happiness

5

"It's a staggering transition for high school students that found they could study five hours a week and make As and Bs."

"It's a staggering transition for high school students that found they could study five hours a week and make As and Bs."

John Gardner, American Novelist

School, Students, Study

5

"My only regret is that I signed away the world rights and in America they've been far and away my most successful books, but I never saw a cent from any of it."

"My only regret is that I signed away the world rights and in America they've been far and away my most successful books, but I never saw a cent from any of it."

Jonathan Coe, English Novelist

Success, Successful, America, Books, Rights

5

"I left my country because I was forced to, and I do not think that I am going to lose my language because I live in England."

"I left my country because I was forced to, and I do not think that I am going to lose my language because I live in England."

Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban Novelist

Nation, Country, England, Language

5

"The great writers just kept bringing them out. They didn't care if they repeated themselves."

"The great writers just kept bringing them out. They didn't care if they repeated themselves."

Irwin Shaw, American Novelist

5

"Life is a means of extracting fiction."

"Life is a means of extracting fiction."

Robert Stone, American Novelist

5

"I do not say a proverb is amiss when aptly and reasonably applied, but to be forever discharging them, right or wrong, hit or miss, renders conversation insipid and vulgar."

"I do not say a proverb is amiss when aptly and reasonably applied, but to be forever discharging them, right or wrong, hit or miss, renders conversation insipid and vulgar."

Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish Novelist

Conversation, Right, Wrong

5

"If egotism means a terrific interest in one's self, egotism is absolutely essential to efficient living."

"If egotism means a terrific interest in one's self, egotism is absolutely essential to efficient living."

Arnold Bennett, English Novelist

Egotism, Interest, Living, Self

5

"Ambition it is the last infirmity of noble minds."

"Ambition it is the last infirmity of noble minds."

J. M. Barrie, Scottish Novelist

5

"I was a pretty angry kid, and I got into military history largely as a way to vent my own anger. As I got older it narrowed down to a more specific focus on individual violence. I'm just trying to understand where it came from."

"I was a pretty angry kid, and I got into military history largely as a way to vent my own anger. As I got older it narrowed down to a more specific focus on individual violence. I'm just trying to understand where it came from."

Caleb Carr, American Novelist

History, Anger, Focus, Military

5

"Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree."

"Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French Novelist

Solitude, Day, Man, Night, Self

5

"We were young, we were merry, we were very, very wise, And the door stood open at our feast, When there passed us a woman with the West in her eyes, And a man with his back to the East."

"We were young, we were merry, we were very, very wise, And the door stood open at our feast, When there passed us a woman with the West in her eyes, And a man with his back to the East."

Mary Elizabeth Coleridge, British Novelist

Wisdom, Eyes, Man, Open, Woman

5

"You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm."

"You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm."

Sidonie Gabrielle Colette, French Novelist

Enthusiasm, Will

5

"Men are mad most of their lives; few live sane, fewer die so. The acts of people are baffling unless we realize that their wits are disordered. Man is driven to justice by his lunacy."

"Men are mad most of their lives; few live sane, fewer die so. The acts of people are baffling unless we realize that their wits are disordered. Man is driven to justice by his lunacy."

Edward Dahlberg, American Novelist

Man, Men, People, Justice

5

"I love acting. It is so much more real than life."

"I love acting. It is so much more real than life."

Fay Weldon, English Novelist

Life, Love, Acting

5

"The spring which moved my energies lay far away beyond seas, in an Indian isle."

"The spring which moved my energies lay far away beyond seas, in an Indian isle."

Charlotte Bronte, British Novelist

Drive, Inspirational, Origin, Motivational

5

"Education is a private matter between the person and the world of knowledge and experience, and has little to do with school or college."

"Education is a private matter between the person and the world of knowledge and experience, and has little to do with school or college."

Lillian Smith, American Novelist

Education, Experience, Knowledge, College

5

"An education which does not cultivate the will is an education that depraves the mind."

"An education which does not cultivate the will is an education that depraves the mind."

Anatole France, French Novelist

Education, Mind, Will

5

"Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little."

"Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little."

Gore Vidal, American Novelist

Friendship, Time, Friend

5

"My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate."

"My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate."

Thornton Wilder, American Novelist

5

"To live anywhere in the world today and be against equality because of race or color is like living in Alaska and being against snow."

"To live anywhere in the world today and be against equality because of race or color is like living in Alaska and being against snow."

William Faulkner, American Novelist

Wisdom, Equality, Being, Living, Race

5

"The only imaginative fiction being written today is income tax returns."

"The only imaginative fiction being written today is income tax returns."

Herman Wouk, American Novelist

Being, Fiction, Tax, Income

5

"We all write poems; it is simply that poets are the ones who write in words."

"We all write poems; it is simply that poets are the ones who write in words."

John Fowles, English Novelist

Poems, Poets, Words

5

"We write not only for children but also for their parents. They, too, are serious children."

"We write not only for children but also for their parents. They, too, are serious children."

Isaac Bashevis Singer, American Novelist

Family, Children, Parents

5

"Time does not change us. It just unfolds us."

"Time does not change us. It just unfolds us."

Max Frisch, Swiss Novelist

5

"...and that, in the end, the most interesting people always leave."

"...and that, in the end, the most interesting people always leave."

Paulo Coelho, Brazilian Novelist

Presence, Departure, Life, Interest, People

5

"Every time I start a new piece of work, I spend a long while under the duvet thinking I can't do it."

"Every time I start a new piece of work, I spend a long while under the duvet thinking I can't do it."

Sue Townsend, English Novelist

Time, Work, Thinking

5

"They themselves do not see the world of light as we do, but our shapes cast shadows in their minds, which only the noon sun destroys."

"They themselves do not see the world of light as we do, but our shapes cast shadows in their minds, which only the noon sun destroys."

J. R. R. Tolkien, English Novelist

Metaphysics, Perception, Light, Mind, Mystery

5

"One is never so dangerous when one has no shame, than when one has grown too old to blush."

"One is never so dangerous when one has no shame, than when one has grown too old to blush."

Marquis de Sade, French Novelist

Shame, Blush, Old

5

"Religion and art spring from the same root and are close kin. Economics and art are strangers."

"Religion and art spring from the same root and are close kin. Economics and art are strangers."

Nathaniel Hawthorne, American Novelist

Art, Religion, Economics, Spring

5

"Ernest Hemingway did a great deal toward making the writer an acceptable public figure; obviously, he was no sissy."

"Ernest Hemingway did a great deal toward making the writer an acceptable public figure; obviously, he was no sissy."

Irwin Shaw, American Novelist

5

"The good critic is he who relates the adventures of his soul among masterpieces."

"The good critic is he who relates the adventures of his soul among masterpieces."

Anatole France, French Novelist

5

"For good and evil, man is a free creative spirit. This produces the very queer world we live in, a world in continuous creation and therefore continuous change and insecurity."

"For good and evil, man is a free creative spirit. This produces the very queer world we live in, a world in continuous creation and therefore continuous change and insecurity."

Joyce Cary, Irish Novelist

Change, Creation, Evil, Insecurity

5

"In our country the lie has become not just a moral category but a pillar of the State."

"In our country the lie has become not just a moral category but a pillar of the State."

Alexander Solzehnitsyn, Russian Novelist

Lie, Country, State

5

"One should fight like the devil the temptation to think well of editors. They are all, without exception - at least some of the time, incompetent or crazy."

"One should fight like the devil the temptation to think well of editors. They are all, without exception - at least some of the time, incompetent or crazy."

John Gardner, American Novelist

Time, Devil, Editors, Fight

5

"Ever since my youth it has disturbed me that of the literary works that survived their own epoch, so many dealt with historical rather than contemporary subjects."

"Ever since my youth it has disturbed me that of the literary works that survived their own epoch, so many dealt with historical rather than contemporary subjects."

Lion Feuchtwanger, German Novelist

Reflection, Literary, Youth

5

"Possession without obligation to the object possessed approaches felicity."

"Possession without obligation to the object possessed approaches felicity."

George Meredith, English Novelist

Possession, Obligation

5

"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn."

"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn."

Ernest Hemingway, American Novelist

5

"My attitudes have changed, but somebody would have to read all my books to find out how they have."

"My attitudes have changed, but somebody would have to read all my books to find out how they have."

Irwin Shaw, American Novelist

5

"Despair is perfectly compatible with a good dinner, I promise you."

"Despair is perfectly compatible with a good dinner, I promise you."

William Makepeace Thackeray, English Novelist

Despair, Promise

5

"Men die in despair, while spirits die in ecstasy."

"Men die in despair, while spirits die in ecstasy."

Honore De Balzac, French Novelist

Man, Men, Despair, Ecstasy, Spirits

5

"For me, writing is a concentrated form of thinking."

"For me, writing is a concentrated form of thinking."

Don DeLillo, American Novelist

Thinking, Writing

5

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