Tag Archives: language

Jonathan Ames (b. March 23): “I don’t know what’s more difficult, life or the English language.”

23 Mar

Jonathan Ames, born 23 March 1964, is an American author of novels and comic memoirs, which include Wake Up, Sir! And The Extra Man. He was also a columnist for the New York Press. He created the HBO television series Bored to Death.

Quotes on writing:

  1. I don’t know what’s more difficult, life or the English language.
  2. A lot of writing is a form of seeing – putting down what you see in terms of action and landscape.
  3. People don’t expect too much from literature. They just want to know they’re not alone with being confused.
  4. A lot of writers, probably because they’re sensitive and that makes them want to be writers, have fears about their masculinity, so they overcompensate by having an interest in boxing and tough-guy things.
  5. When I was in college, I had the good fortune to have Joyce Carol Oates as my writing teacher. She told me that I could take an aspect of myself, and from that one bit of personality, I can create a character. This is what I have done, particularly in my novels.

Tags: ,

Roland Barthes (b. November 12): “Language is a skin” & other obsessions

12 Nov

barthes60Roland Barthes (born 12 November 1915, died 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist and critic who influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, social theory, anthropology and post-structuralism.

Quotes on language:

  1. Language is a skin: I rub my language against the other. It is as if I had words instead of fingers, or fingers at the tip of my words. My language trembles with desire.
  2. I am interested in language because it wounds or seduces me.
  3. Take the gesture, the action of writing. I have an almost obsessive relation to writing instruments. I often switch from one pen to another just for the pleasure of it. I try out new ones. I have far too many pens – I don’t know what to do with all of them! And yet, as soon as I see a new one, I start craving it. I cannot keep myself from buying them.

Tags: , , , , ,

George Carlin (b. May 12): “Language is a tool for concealing the truth.”

12 May

carlin

“By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.”

~ George Carlin, b. 12 May 1937

http://pinterest.com/pin/39406565462150128/

 

Tags: , ,

Jonathan Ames (b. March 23): “I don’t know what’s more difficult, life or the English language.”

23 Mar

Jonathan Ames, born 23 March 1964, is an American author of novels and comic memoirs, which include Wake Up, Sir! And The Extra Man. He was also a columnist for the New York Press. He created the HBO television series Bored to Death.

Quotes on writing:

  1. I don’t know what’s more difficult, life or the English language.
  2. A lot of writing is a form of seeing – putting down what you see in terms of action and landscape.
  3. People don’t expect too much from literature. They just want to know they’re not alone with being confused.
  4. A lot of writers, probably because they’re sensitive and that makes them want to be writers, have fears about their masculinity, so they overcompensate by having an interest in boxing and tough-guy things.
  5. When I was in college, I had the good fortune to have Joyce Carol Oates as my writing teacher. She told me that I could take an aspect of myself, and from that one bit of personality, I can create a character. This is what I have done, particularly in my novels.

Tags: ,

Roland Barthes (b. November 12): “Language is a skin” & other obsessions

12 Nov

barthes60Roland Barthes (born 12 November 1915, died 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist and critic who influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, social theory, anthropology and post-structuralism.

Quotes on language:

  1. Language is a skin: I rub my language against the other. It is as if I had words instead of fingers, or fingers at the tip of my words. My language trembles with desire.
  2. I am interested in language because it wounds or seduces me.
  3. Take the gesture, the action of writing. I have an almost obsessive relation to writing instruments. I often switch from one pen to another just for the pleasure of it. I try out new ones. I have far too many pens – I don’t know what to do with all of them! And yet, as soon as I see a new one, I start craving it. I cannot keep myself from buying them.

Tags: , , , , ,

Harold Pinter (b. October 10): “Language is a trampoline” & other quotes on writing

10 Oct

Harold Pinter (10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a Nobel Prize-winning English playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party, The Homecoming, and Betrayal, each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others’ works include The French Lieutenant’s Woman and The Trial. 

Six quotes on writing:

  1. Good writing excites me, and makes life worth living.
  2. One way of looking at speech is to say that it is a constant stratagem to cover nakedness.
  3. I don’t give a damn what other people think. It’s entirely their own business. I’m not writing for other people.
  4. Language in art remains a highly ambiguous transaction, a quicksand, a trampoline, a frozen pool which might give way under you … at any time.
  5. I’m not committed as a writer, in the usual sense of the term, either religiously or politically. And I’m not conscious of any particular social function. I write because I want to write. I don’t see any placards on myself, and I don’t carry any banners.
  6. I think we communicate only too well, in our silence, in what is unsaid, and that what takes place is a continual evasion, desperate rearguard attempts to keep ourselves to ourselves. Communication is too alarming. To enter into someone else’s life is too frightening. To disclose to others the poverty within us is too fearsome a possibility.

Tags: , , ,

George Carlin (b. May 12): “Language is a tool for concealing the truth.”

12 May

carlin

“By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.”

~ George Carlin, b. 12 May 1937

http://pinterest.com/pin/39406565462150128/

 

Tags: , ,

Alexandra Adornetto (b. April 18): “The crucial factor is the opening sentence.”

18 Apr

Alexandra Adornetto, born 18 April 1993, is an Australian author who writes for children and young adults. Her works include The Strangest Adventures series, the Halo trilogy and The Ghost House Saga.

Quotes on writing:

  1. It’s a tough industry, but don’t be put off. I believe if you want something badly enough and you’re willing to work at it, then you’ll succeed.
  2. I do chapter breakdowns so I know vaguely what’s going to happen in each one. All I need to know is the basic outline of what’s going to happen and the story tends to write itself.
  3. The best advice I can give [aspiring writers] is to believe in their work. I think that’s the key as well as being receptive to criticism and feedback. That’s the only way to really develop your skills as a writer.
  4. When you open a book and take a first hesitant glance at the page before you, the crucial factor that determines whether to continue reading or disregard the book in disappointment is the opening sentence.
  5. I was not too impressed with human language; it seemed absurdly limited. There was so much that couldn’t be put into words. That was one of the saddest things about people – their most important thoughts and feelings often went unspoken.

 

Tags: , , ,

Jonathan Ames (b. March 23): “I don’t know what’s more difficult, life or the English language.”

23 Mar

Jonathan Ames, born 23 March 1964, is an American author of novels and comic memoirs, which include Wake Up, Sir! And The Extra Man. He was also a columnist for the New York Press. He created the HBO television series Bored to Death.

Quotes on writing:

  1. I don’t know what’s more difficult, life or the English language.
  2. A lot of writing is a form of seeing – putting down what you see in terms of action and landscape.
  3. People don’t expect too much from literature. They just want to know they’re not alone with being confused.
  4. A lot of writers, probably because they’re sensitive and that makes them want to be writers, have fears about their masculinity, so they overcompensate by having an interest in boxing and tough-guy things.
  5. When I was in college, I had the good fortune to have Joyce Carol Oates as my writing teacher. She told me that I could take an aspect of myself, and from that one bit of personality, I can create a character. This is what I have done, particularly in my novels.

Tags: ,

Harold Pinter (b. October 10): “Language is a trampoline” & other quotes on writing

10 Dec

Harold Pinter (10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a Nobel Prize-winning English playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party, The Homecoming, and Betrayal, each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others’ works include The French Lieutenant’s Woman and The Trial. 

Six quotes on writing:

  1. Good writing excites me, and makes life worth living.
  2. One way of looking at speech is to say that it is a constant stratagem to cover nakedness.
  3. I don’t give a damn what other people think. It’s entirely their own business. I’m not writing for other people.
  4. Language in art remains a highly ambiguous transaction, a quicksand, a trampoline, a frozen pool which might give way under you … at any time.
  5. I’m not committed as a writer, in the usual sense of the term, either religiously or politically. And I’m not conscious of any particular social function. I write because I want to write. I don’t see any placards on myself, and I don’t carry any banners.
  6. I think we communicate only too well, in our silence, in what is unsaid, and that what takes place is a continual evasion, desperate rearguard attempts to keep ourselves to ourselves. Communication is too alarming. To enter into someone else’s life is too frightening. To disclose to others the poverty within us is too fearsome a possibility.

Tags: , , ,

← Older Entries

%d bloggers like this: