“Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.”
~ Sir Francis Bacon, b. 22 January 1561
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Tag Archives: imagination
Billy Connolly (b. November 24): “I think my securities far outweigh my insecurities….”
24 Nov
“I think my securities far outweigh my insecurities. I am not nearly as afraid of myself and my imagination as I used to be.”
~ Billy Connolly, b. 24 November 1942
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J.G. Ballard (b. November 15): “Fiction is a branch of neurology” & other quotes
15 Nov
J.G. Ballard (born 15 November 1930, died 19 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, and prominent member of the New Wave movement in science fiction. His best-known books are Crash and the semi-autobiographical Empire of the Sun, made into a film by Steven Spielberg, based on Ballard’s boyhood during the Second World War.
His work has given rise to the adjective ‘Ballardian’, defined by the Collins English Dictionary as ‘resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in J. G. Ballard’s novels and stories, especially dystopian modernity, bleak man-made landscapes and the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments’.
Quotes on writing:
- Any fool can write a novel but it takes real genius to sell it.
- I felt the pressure of imagination against the doors of my mind was so great that they were going to burst.
- Fiction is a branch of neurology: the scenarios of nerve and blood vessels are the written mythologies of memory and desire.
- But I wouldn’t recommend writing. You can be a successful writer and never meet another soul. I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
- Given that external reality is a fiction, the writer’s role is almost superfluous. He does not need to invent the fiction because it is already there.
- I work for three or four hours a day, in the late morning and early afternoon. Then I go out for a walk and come back in time for a large gin and tonic.
- I’ve never suffered from writer’s block. I have plenty of ideas, sometimes too many. I’ve always had a strong imagination. If it dries up I’ll stop and look for another career.
- If their work is satisfying people don’t need leisure in the old-fashioned sense. No one ever asks what Newton or Darwin did to relax, or how Bach spent his weekends.
- I believe in the power of the imagination to remake the world, to release the truth within us, to hold back the night, to transcend death, to charm motorways, to ingratiate ourselves with birds, to enlist the confidences of madmen.
Sam Shepard (b. November 5): “Without writing I’d feel completely useless” & other quotes on writing
5 Nov
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Sam Shepard, born 5 November 1943, is an author, playwright, actor and director. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Buried Child, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in The Right Stuff.
Quotes on writing:
- I think without writing I would feel completely useless.
- When you hit a wall – of your own imagined limitations – just kick it in.
- I’ve heard writers talk about ‘discovering a voice’, but for me that wasn’t a problem. There were so many voices that I didn’t know where to start.
- The great thing for me, now, is that writing has become more and more interesting. Not just as a craft but as a way into things that are not described.
- I’m a writer. The more I act, the more resistance I have to it. If you accept work in a movie, you accept to be entrapped for a certain part of time, but you know you’re getting out. I’m also earning enough to keep my horses, buying some time to write.
- My first job was with the Burns Detective Agency. They sent me over to the East River to guard coal barges during these god-awful hours like three to six in the morning. It wasn’t a very difficult job — all I had to do was make a round every fifteen minutes — but it turned out to be a great environment for writing. I was completely alone in a little outhouse with an electric heater and a little desk.
John Keats (b. October 31): “My imagination is a monastery…”
31 Oct
“My imagination is a monastery and I am its monk.”
~ John Keats, b. 31 October 1795
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Christopher Isherwood (b. August 26): “Life’s not so bad if you have a good physique…”
26 Aug
“Life is not so bad if you have plenty of luck, a good physique, and not too much imagination.”
~ Christopher Isherwood, b. 26 August 1904
Sir Francis Bacon (b. January 22): “Imagination was given to man to compensate him…”
22 Jan
“Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.”
~ Sir Francis Bacon, b. 22 January 1561
pinterest.com/pin/39406565463508922/
Billy Connolly (b. November 24): “I think my securities far outweigh my insecurities….”
24 Nov
“I think my securities far outweigh my insecurities. I am not nearly as afraid of myself and my imagination as I used to be.”
~ Billy Connolly, b. 24 November 1942
pinterest.com/pin/39406565463182703/
J.G. Ballard (b. November 15): “Fiction is a branch of neurology” & other quotes
15 Nov
J.G. Ballard (born 15 November 1930, died 19 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, and prominent member of the New Wave movement in science fiction. His best-known books are Crash and the semi-autobiographical Empire of the Sun, made into a film by Steven Spielberg, based on Ballard’s boyhood during the Second World War.
His work has given rise to the adjective ‘Ballardian’, defined by the Collins English Dictionary as ‘resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in J. G. Ballard’s novels and stories, especially dystopian modernity, bleak man-made landscapes and the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments’.
Quotes on writing:
- Any fool can write a novel but it takes real genius to sell it.
- I felt the pressure of imagination against the doors of my mind was so great that they were going to burst.
- Fiction is a branch of neurology: the scenarios of nerve and blood vessels are the written mythologies of memory and desire.
- But I wouldn’t recommend writing. You can be a successful writer and never meet another soul. I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
- Given that external reality is a fiction, the writer’s role is almost superfluous. He does not need to invent the fiction because it is already there.
- I work for three or four hours a day, in the late morning and early afternoon. Then I go out for a walk and come back in time for a large gin and tonic.
- I’ve never suffered from writer’s block. I have plenty of ideas, sometimes too many. I’ve always had a strong imagination. If it dries up I’ll stop and look for another career.
- If their work is satisfying people don’t need leisure in the old-fashioned sense. No one ever asks what Newton or Darwin did to relax, or how Bach spent his weekends.
- I believe in the power of the imagination to remake the world, to release the truth within us, to hold back the night, to transcend death, to charm motorways, to ingratiate ourselves with birds, to enlist the confidences of madmen.
Sam Shepard (b. November 5): “Without writing I’d feel completely useless” & other quotes on writing
5 Novpinterest.com/pin/39406565465097051/
Sam Shepard, born 5 November 1943, is an author, playwright, actor and director. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Buried Child, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in The Right Stuff.
Quotes on writing:
- I think without writing I would feel completely useless.
- When you hit a wall – of your own imagined limitations – just kick it in.
- I’ve heard writers talk about ‘discovering a voice’, but for me that wasn’t a problem. There were so many voices that I didn’t know where to start.
- The great thing for me, now, is that writing has become more and more interesting. Not just as a craft but as a way into things that are not described.
- I’m a writer. The more I act, the more resistance I have to it. If you accept work in a movie, you accept to be entrapped for a certain part of time, but you know you’re getting out. I’m also earning enough to keep my horses, buying some time to write.
- My first job was with the Burns Detective Agency. They sent me over to the East River to guard coal barges during these god-awful hours like three to six in the morning. It wasn’t a very difficult job — all I had to do was make a round every fifteen minutes — but it turned out to be a great environment for writing. I was completely alone in a little outhouse with an electric heater and a little desk.
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