Quotes by Novelist | Beyond Motive 31/280

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Quotes by Novelist

"I go to great lengths to make certain situations feel right to the reader."

"I go to great lengths to make certain situations feel right to the reader."

Sidney Sheldon, American Novelist

5

"Christopher Columbus, as everyone knows, is honored by posterity because he was the last to discover America."

"Christopher Columbus, as everyone knows, is honored by posterity because he was the last to discover America."

James Joyce, Irish Novelist

History, America, Columbus, Posterity

5

"Even from a distance, their eyes conveyed the strength of their souls. And their eyes spoke of death."

"Even from a distance, their eyes conveyed the strength of their souls. And their eyes spoke of death."

Paulo Coelho, Brazilian Novelist

Spirit, Strength, Death, Soul, Eye

5

"Don't hate the word, playa; hate the dictionary."

"Don't hate the word, playa; hate the dictionary."

Brian Celio, American Novelist

5

"But I now think what I was doing, in a completely unconscious way, was getting off the turf where my husband and I might be rivals. We were both working in fiction... so I look back and I see that I consciously vacated the contested ground."

"But I now think what I was doing, in a completely unconscious way, was getting off the turf where my husband and I might be rivals. We were both working in fiction... so I look back and I see that I consciously vacated the contested ground."

Helen Garner, Australian Novelist

Competition, Husbfiction, Now, Unconscious

5

"The Mekons were kind of like the background music of my life."

"The Mekons were kind of like the background music of my life."

Jonathan Franzen, American Novelist

5

"It is much easier to find fault with others, than to be faultless ourselves."

"It is much easier to find fault with others, than to be faultless ourselves."

Samuel Richardson, English Novelist

5

"Drink moderately, for drunkeness neither keeps a secret, nor observes a promise."

"Drink moderately, for drunkeness neither keeps a secret, nor observes a promise."

Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish Novelist

Moderation, Promise

5

"There are not a few among the disciples of charity who require, in their vocation, scarcely less excitement than the votaries of pleasure in theirs."

"There are not a few among the disciples of charity who require, in their vocation, scarcely less excitement than the votaries of pleasure in theirs."

Charles Dickens, English Novelist

Empathy, Charity, Excitement, Pleasure, Vocation

5

"Happiness comes only when we push our brains and hearts to the farthest reaches of which we are capable."

"Happiness comes only when we push our brains and hearts to the farthest reaches of which we are capable."

Leo Rosten, American Novelist

5

"I think people throughout the world identify with my characters."

"I think people throughout the world identify with my characters."

Sidney Sheldon, American Novelist

5

"Thalia had gotten herself turned into a pine tree when she was twelve. Me ... Well, I was doingmy best not to follow her example. I had nightmares about what Poseidon might turn me intoif I were ever on the verge of death--plankton, maybe. Or a floating patch of kelp."

"Thalia had gotten herself turned into a pine tree when she was twelve. Me ... Well, I was doingmy best not to follow her example. I had nightmares about what Poseidon might turn me intoif I were ever on the verge of death--plankton, maybe. Or a floating patch of kelp."

Rick Riordan, American Novelist

Survival, Transformation, Truth, Power, Regret

5

"I have always heard, Sancho, that doing good to base fellows is like throwing water into the sea."

"I have always heard, Sancho, that doing good to base fellows is like throwing water into the sea."

Miguel De Cervantes, Spanish Novelist

5

"If a teacher has only love for the cause, it will be a good teacher. If a teacher has only love for student, as a father, mother, he will be better than the teacher, who read all the books, but has no love for the cause, nor to the students. If the teacher combines love to the cause and to his disciples, he is the perfect teacher."

"If a teacher has only love for the cause, it will be a good teacher. If a teacher has only love for student, as a father, mother, he will be better than the teacher, who read all the books, but has no love for the cause, nor to the students. If the teacher combines love to the cause and to his disciples, he is the perfect teacher."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

Education, Love, Cause, Perfection

5

"Last of all Hurin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed; and it is sung that the axe smoked in the black blood of the troll-guard of Gothmog until it withered, and each time that he slew Hurin cried: 'Aure entuluva! Day shall come again!' Seventy times he uttered that cry; but they took him at last alive..."

"Last of all Hurin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed; and it is sung that the axe smoked in the black blood of the troll-guard of Gothmog until it withered, and each time that he slew Hurin cried: 'Aure entuluva! Day shall come again!' Seventy times he uttered that cry; but they took him at last alive..."

J. R. R. Tolkien, English Novelist

Fantasy, Heroism, Battle, Myth

5

"Why did God give me two ears and one mouth? So that I will hear more and talk less."

"Why did God give me two ears and one mouth? So that I will hear more and talk less."

Leo Rosten, American Novelist

God, Talk, Will

5

"It is the final proof of God's omnipotence that he need not exist in order to save us."

"It is the final proof of God's omnipotence that he need not exist in order to save us."

Peter De Vries, American Novelist

God, Order, Proof

5

"Blue, green, grey, white, or black; smooth, ruffled, or mountainous; that ocean is not silent."

"Blue, green, grey, white, or black; smooth, ruffled, or mountainous; that ocean is not silent."

H. P. Lovecraft, American Novelist

5

"We can only write well about our sins because it is too difficult to recall a virtuous act or even whether it was the result of good or evil motives."

"We can only write well about our sins because it is too difficult to recall a virtuous act or even whether it was the result of good or evil motives."

Edward Dahlberg, American Novelist

Act, Evil, Motives, Result

5

"The greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness."

"The greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness."

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian Novelist

Happiness, Unhappiness

5

"Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence. Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle."

"Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence. Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle."

Alexander Solzehnitsyn, Russian Novelist

Lie, Man, Violence

5

"Life is not a dress rehearsal."

"Life is not a dress rehearsal."

Rose Tremain, English Novelist

5

"In course of time my first novel appeared. It was a love story."

"In course of time my first novel appeared. It was a love story."

George Barr McCutcheon, American Novelist

Love, Time, First

5

"Where can I get some tat? I'd like to trade it in."

"Where can I get some tat? I'd like to trade it in."

Aaron Allston, American Novelist

5

"A man is only as good as what he loves."

"A man is only as good as what he loves."

Saul Bellow, American Novelist

5

"A modern fleet of ships does not so much make use of the sea as exploit a highway."

"A modern fleet of ships does not so much make use of the sea as exploit a highway."

Joseph Conrad, Polish Novelist

5

"One of the dreariest spots on life's road is the point of conviction that nothing will ever again happen to you."

"One of the dreariest spots on life's road is the point of conviction that nothing will ever again happen to you."

Faith Baldwin, American Novelist

Life, Conviction, Nothing, Road

5

"Perhaps the best definition of progress would be the continuing efforts of men and women to narrow the gap between the convenience of the powers that be and the unwritten charter."

"Perhaps the best definition of progress would be the continuing efforts of men and women to narrow the gap between the convenience of the powers that be and the unwritten charter."

Nadine Gordimer, South African Novelist

Man, Men, Women, Progress

5

"A hungry man is an angry one."

"A hungry man is an angry one."

Buchi Emecheta, Nigerian Novelist

5

"Transport of the mails, transport of the human voice, transport of flickering pictures-in this century as in others our highest accomplishments still have the single aim of bringing men together."

"Transport of the mails, transport of the human voice, transport of flickering pictures-in this century as in others our highest accomplishments still have the single aim of bringing men together."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French Novelist

Man, Men, Accomplishments, Voice

5

"Most of what matters in your life takes place in your absence."

"Most of what matters in your life takes place in your absence."

Salman Rushdie, Indian Novelist

5

"I finally did work out a very good relationship with my father, but it was rough growing up. We had a lot of conflict, and I think it surfaced in many of my works."

"I finally did work out a very good relationship with my father, but it was rough growing up. We had a lot of conflict, and I think it surfaced in many of my works."

Ira Levin, American Novelist

Work, Father, Conflict, Growingup

5

"The common faults of American language are an ambition of effect, a want of simplicity, and a turgid abuse of terms."

"The common faults of American language are an ambition of effect, a want of simplicity, and a turgid abuse of terms."

James F. Cooper, American Novelist

Abuse, Ambition, Effect

5

"Poetry is emotion put into measure. The emotion must come by nature, but the measure can be acquired by art."

"Poetry is emotion put into measure. The emotion must come by nature, but the measure can be acquired by art."

Thomas Hardy, English Novelist

Nature, Art, Poetry, Emotion

5

"The enemy for the fanatic is pleasure, which makes it extremely important to continue to indulge in pleasure. Dance madly. That is how you get rid of terrorism."

"The enemy for the fanatic is pleasure, which makes it extremely important to continue to indulge in pleasure. Dance madly. That is how you get rid of terrorism."

Salman Rushdie, Indian Novelist

Rebellion, Pleasure, Courage, Freedom

5

"The horrid mystery hanging over us in this house gets into my head like liquor, and makes me wild."

"The horrid mystery hanging over us in this house gets into my head like liquor, and makes me wild."

Wilkie Collins, English Novelist

Mystery, Liquor

5

"And Silence of the Lambs is a really smart book."

"And Silence of the Lambs is a really smart book."

Jonathan Franzen, American Novelist

5

"We understand more than we know."

"We understand more than we know."

Margaret Atwood, Canadian Novelist

Insight, Understanding, Intuition, Knowledge, Awareness

5

"The feelings resembled memories, but memories of what? Apparently one can remember things that have never happened."

"The feelings resembled memories, but memories of what? Apparently one can remember things that have never happened."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

Memory, Feelings, Past, Perception

5

"I was perfectly happy in my boring life before you came along."

"I was perfectly happy in my boring life before you came along."

Elizabeth Gilbert, American Novelist

Contentment, Happiness, Life, Change

5

"The worst of such stories is that the triumphant romancers can always be put to confusion and crushed by the very details in which real life is so rich and which these unhappy and involuntary story-tellers neglect as insignificant trifles. Oh, they have no thought to spare for such details, their minds are concentrated on their grand invention as a whole, and fancy any one daring to pull them up for a trifle! But that's how they are caught."

"The worst of such stories is that the triumphant romancers can always be put to confusion and crushed by the very details in which real life is so rich and which these unhappy and involuntary story-tellers neglect as insignificant trifles. Oh, they have no thought to spare for such details, their minds are concentrated on their grand invention as a whole, and fancy any one daring to pull them up for a trifle! But that's how they are caught."

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian Novelist

Reality, Story, Truth, Imagination

5

"Pray look better, Sir... those things yonder are no giants, but windmills."

"Pray look better, Sir... those things yonder are no giants, but windmills."

Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish Novelist

Misunderstanding, Giants

5

"It's precisely the disappointing stories, which have no proper ending and therefore no proper meaning, that sound true to life."

"It's precisely the disappointing stories, which have no proper ending and therefore no proper meaning, that sound true to life."

Max Frisch, Swiss Novelist

Life, Ending, Meaning, Sound

5

"The profession of the writer has its thorns about which the reader does not dream."

"The profession of the writer has its thorns about which the reader does not dream."

Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish Novelist

Dream, Profession, Writer

5

"Do not wave stick when trying to catch dog."

"Do not wave stick when trying to catch dog."

Earl Derr Biggers, American Novelist

5

"No deep and strong feeling, such as we may come across here and there in the world, is unmixed with compassion. The more we love, the more the object of our love seems to us to be a victim."

"No deep and strong feeling, such as we may come across here and there in the world, is unmixed with compassion. The more we love, the more the object of our love seems to us to be a victim."

Boris Pasternak, Russian Novelist

Love, Compassion, Deep, Feeling

5

"Stories had always been told about male genies coming out of bottles, but they were usually fat, old men. Never had the genie been a gorgeous woman, so that idea really appealed to me, and I created the series based on that premise."

"Stories had always been told about male genies coming out of bottles, but they were usually fat, old men. Never had the genie been a gorgeous woman, so that idea really appealed to me, and I created the series based on that premise."

Sidney Sheldon, American Novelist

Man, Men, Idea, Old, Woman

5

"The new father finally hangs up the phone, laughing at absolutely nothing. "Congratulations," I say, when what I really want to tell him is to pick up that baby of his and hold her tight, to set the moon on the edge of her crib and to hang her name up in stars so that she never, ever does to him what I have done to my parents."

"The new father finally hangs up the phone, laughing at absolutely nothing. "Congratulations," I say, when what I really want to tell him is to pick up that baby of his and hold her tight, to set the moon on the edge of her crib and to hang her name up in stars so that she never, ever does to him what I have done to my parents."

Jodi Picoult, American Novelist

Fatherhood, Love, Emotion, Regret, Hope

5

"Comedy is only as stupid as you are smart."

"Comedy is only as stupid as you are smart."

Brian Celio, American Novelist

5

"The waste basket is the writer's best friend."

"The waste basket is the writer's best friend."

Isaac Bashevis Singer, American Novelist

Friendship, Friend, Waste, Writer

5

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