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

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

Joseph Conrad on His Dislike of Work

“I don’t like work–no man does–but I like what is in the work–the chance to find yourself. Your own reality–for yourself not for others–what no other man can ever know. They can only see the mere show, and never can tell what it really means.”

~ Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad ‪Nałęcz‬ Korzeniowski, 3 December 1857  – 3 August 1924)

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

Louisa May Alcott on Taking Fate by the Throat

“Resolve to take fate by the throat and shake a living out of her.”

~ Louisa May Alcott (November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888)

Source: About.com: Women’s History: Louisa May Alcott

Lillian Helman on Writers’ Hopes

“Nothing you write, if you hope to be any good, will ever come out as you first hoped.”

~ Lillian Helman

Source: “Writing” Ink

Isaac Asimov on the Importance of Submitting Your Work

“You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you’re working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success – but only if you persist.”

~ Isaac Asimov

Source: The Quotations Page

Theophile Gautier on Creating Beauty from That Which Resists the Creative Process

“Yes, the work comes out more beautiful from a material that resists the process, verse, marble, onyx, or enamel.”

~ Theophile Gautier

Source: BrainyQuote

Ray Bradbury on Failure

“You fail only if you stop writing.”

~Ray Bradbury

Source: BrainyQuote

Theophile Gautier on Art and Beauty

“Art is beauty, the perpetual invention of detail, the choice of words, the exquisite care of execution.”

~ Theophile Gautier

Source: BrainyQuote