Ann Patchett on What Writing Is

“Writing is a job, a talent, but it’s also the place to go in your head. It is the imaginary friend you drink your tea with in the afternoon.”

~ Ann Patchett (born December 2, 1963), Truth and Beauty

Source: Goodreads

T.C. Boyle on the Necessity of Surprises

“There are always surprises. Life may be inveterately grim and the surprises disproportionately unpleasant, but it would be hardly worth living if there were no exceptions, no sunny days, no acts of random kindness.”

~ T.C. Boyle, (aka Tom Coraghessan Boyle, born Thomas John Boyle on December 2, 1948), The Tortilla Curtain

Source: GoodReads

Charles Baudelaire on Writing Style

“Always be a poet, even in prose.”

~ Charles Baudelaire

Source: BrainyQuote

Douglas Adams on Saving the World

“We don’t have to save the world. The world is big enough to look after itself. What we have to be concerned about is whether or not the world we live in will be capable of sustaining us in it.”

~ Douglas Adams

Source: WikiQuote

Janni Simner on the Writer’s Journey

“You’re going to have setbacks, and you’re going to be okay. This isn’t your one big chance. It’s the start of a long and winding (and heartbreaking and glorious) journey.”

~ Janni Simner, Author of the post-apocalyptic Bones of Faerie trilogy and the Iceland-based fantasy Thief Eyes

Source: For new writers (and also for the rest of us), August 6, 2013

Cory Doctorow on the People of the Book

“We are the people of the book. We love our books. We fill our houses with books. We treasure books we inherit from our parents, and we cherish the idea of passing those books on to our children. Indeed, how many of us started reading with a beloved book that belonged to one of our parents? We force worthy books on our friends, and we insist that they read them. We even feel a weird kinship for the people we see on buses or airplanes reading our books, the books that we claim. If anyone tries to take away our books—some oppressive government, some censor gone off the rails—we would defend them with everything that we have. We know our tribespeople when we visit their homes because every wall is lined with books. There are teetering piles of books beside the bed and on the floor; there are masses of swollen paperbacks in the bathroom. Our books are us. They are our outboard memory banks and they contain the moral, intellectual, and imaginative influences that make us the people we are today.”

Cory Doctorow, (born 17 July 1971)

Source: Writers Write Creative Blog,”Literary Birthday – 17 July – Cory Doctorow”

Lillian Hellman on Cynicism

“Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth.”

~ Lillian Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984)

Source: A Quotation: Lillian Hellman

Neil Gaiman’s Wishes for Your Coming Year

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”

~ Neil Gaiman

Source: GoodReads

Alison Headley on Starting Late

“In terms of being late or not starting at all, then it’s never too late.”

~ Alison Headley, Digital Preservation and Blogs, SXSW 2006

Source: Quotations Page

Theophile Gautier on Writers as Artists

“Any man who does not have his inner world to translate is not an artist.”

~ Theophile Gautier

Source: BrainyQuote