Joan Didion on the Impulse to Write

“The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself. I suppose that it begins or does not begin in the cradle. Although I have felt compelled to write things down since I was five years old, I doubt that my daughter ever will, for she is a singularly blessed and accepting child, delighted with life exactly as life presents itself to her, unafraid to go to sleep and unafraid to wake up. Keepers of private notebooks are a different breed altogether, lonely and resistant rearrangers of things, anxious malcontents, children afflicted apparently at birth with some presentiment of loss.”

~ Joan Didion (born December 5, 1934), Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Source: GoodReads

Rex Stout on the Relationship Between Genius and Getting There

“Genius is fine for the ignition spark, but to get there someone has to see that the radiator doesn’t leak and no tire is flat.”

~ Rex Todhunter Stout (December 1, 1886 – October 27, 1975), The Doorbell Rang

Source: GoodReads

Mark Twain on the Necessity of Avoiding People Who Belittle Your Ambitions

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

~ Mark Twain, aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910)

Source: Quotes4All: Mark Twain

Jane Rule on Bearing Witness

“If we don’t bear witness as citizens, as people, as individuals, the right that we have had to life is sacrificed. There is a silence, instead of a speaking presence.”

~ Jane Rule

Source: Brainy Quote: Jane Rule

Edward Albee on the Optimism of Writing

“The act of writing is an act of optimism. You would not take the trouble to do it if you felt that it didn’t matter.”

~ Edward Albee

Source: Eminent Quotables: What Writers Say About Writing

Benjamin Disraeli on the Universality of Knowledge

“It is knowledge that influences and equalizes the social condition of man; that gives to all, however different their political position, passions which are in common, and enjoyments which are universal.”

~ Benjamin Disraeli

Source: “Benjamin Diraeli” The Quotations Page

Anais Nin on How We See Things

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

~ Anais Nin

Source: BrainyQuote

Brian Aldiss on Writers

“There are two kinds of writer: those that make you think, and those that make you wonder.”

~ Brian Aldiss

Source: Quotable Quotes

C. S. Lewis on Truth and Comfort

“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.”

~ C. S. Lewis

Source: Quotations Page

Jane Rule on Writing from the Heart

“Writing is far too hard work to say what someone else wants me to. Serving it as a craft, using it as a way of growing in my own understanding, seems to me to be a beautiful way to live. And if that product is shareable with other people, so much the better.”

~ Jane Rule

Source: BrainyQuotes