Monday, June 06, 2011

Inspirational Quotes

Life has been insane for me these past six months. Regular life is always busy, but we've had some majorly huge things on top of that. Only one of which was my knee surgery in February. We've had at least one other life-altering thing on top of that, so it's been really hard to sit down and read or write effectively. There have been days when I sit in front of the computer and don't have the energy to get anything out.

The huge things are over now, and life should be getting back to normal. In the mean time, though, I need some major inspiration. I've been gathering great quotes for the past ten years or so, and these never fail to get me back on track. So, I thought I'd share some with you today. Maybe we'll all feel inspired and start off the week on the right foot. So, here you go:

The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.
- Somerset Maugham

I write when I'm inspired, and see to it that I'm inspired at nine o'clock every morning.
- Peter De Vries

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any.
- Orson Scott Card

Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.
- Robert Frost

You must write for children the same way you write for adults, only better.
- Maxim Gorky

You can't sit around and wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
- Jack London

Writing is easy: All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.
- Gene Fowler

Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.
- Winston Churchill

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
- W. Somerset Maugham

Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots.
- Frank A. Clark

Writer’s block is a fancy term made up by whiners so they can have an excuse to drink alcohol.
- Steve Martin

Like stones, words are laborious and unforgiving, and the fitting of them together, like the fitting of stones, demands great patience and strength of purpose and particular skill.
- Edmund Morrison

I don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to earth.
- Pearl Buck

Easy reading is damned hard writing.
- Anonymous

The way you define yourself as a writer is that you write every time you have a free minute. If you didn't behave that way you would never do anything.
- John Irving

6 comments:

Jennifer Shirk said...

Those are great!

Hope things settle down for you and you can get some writing done.

Kelly Hashway said...

Love these! The one about making sure to be inspired at nine every day totally hits home. I write at the same time everyday.

totsymae1011 said...

I don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to earth.
- Pearl Buck

I especially like this one. Think I'll print it and put it in a couple of places in my studio. Glad to see you over the hump. I understand! Thanks for sharing.

www.totsymae.com

Catherine Stine said...

"One must have some chaos within to give birth to a shooting star" Nietzsche

C. K. Kelly Martin said...

That W. Somerset Maugham one is pure gold! That and the John Irving quote totally resonate with me. Thanks for sharing.

Glad to hear the big things are settling down for you.

Marcia said...

Oh. My. Goodness. Do I love the first one by Maugham.