“The real importance of reading is that it creates an ease and intimacy with the process of writing . . . It also offers you a constantly growing knowledge of what has been done and what hasn’t, what is trite and what is fresh, what works and what just lies there dying (or dead) on the page. The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor.”
~ STEPHEN KING
“Culture’s worth huge, huge risks. Without culture we’re all totalitarian beasts.”
~ Norman Mailer, b. 31 January 1923
“The writer has to take the most used, most familiar objects—nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs—ball them together and make them bounce, turn them a certain way and make people get into a romantic mood; and another way, into a bellicose mood. I’m most happy to be a writer.”
~ MAYA ANGELOU
“Integrity is so perishable in the summer months of success.”
~ Vaness Redgrave, b. 30 January 1937
“All good books will eventually find a publisher if the writer tries hard enough, and a central secret to writing a good book is to write on that which people like you will enjoy. Write what you care about and understand.”
~ RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”
~ Oprah Winfrey, b. 29 January 1954
“Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him to the public.”
~ WINSTON CHURCHILL
“If you love large, you’ve got to hurt large. If you’ve got a lot of light, you’ve probably got an equal amount of darkness.”
~ Sarah McLachlan, b. 28 January 1968
“Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music—the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting people. Forget yourself.”
~ HENRY MILLER
“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”
~ Lewis Carroll, b. 27 January 1832
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