Monday, February 18, 2013

Quotes From Famous Writers

Here's some more great quotes for you. Enjoy!!


Only a mediocre writer is always at his best.
- William Somerset Maugham

I have rewritten- often several times- every word I have ever written.  My pencils outlast their erasures.
- Vladimir Nabokov

Writing is 1 percent inspiration, and 99 percent elimination.
- Louise Brooks

When you sell a man a book, you don't sell him 12 ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life.
- Christopher Morley

A good many young writers make the mistake of enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope, big enough for the manuscript to come back in. This is too much of a temptation to the editor.
- Ring Lardner

Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.
- Don Marquis

If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad.
- Lord Byron

What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.
- Samuel Johnson

Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very;" your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.
- Mark Twain

The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.
- Mary Heaton Vorse

We don't write what we know.  We write what we wonder about.
- Richard Peck

Good things, when short, are twice as good.
- Baltasar Gracian

9 comments:

Kelly Hashway said...

I'm with Byron. I'd go crazy if I didn't write. Only writers can hear voices in their heads and not be locked up for it. ;)

Unknown said...

I love the first one, and of course, Twain is always entertaining and educational. :)

Unknown said...

I liked these very much, particularly the last one. I'm very impatient and like things that are concisely written. :-)

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Ooh, the Grand Caynon and waiting for an echo from a rose petal... Me likey that one. Thanks for sharing these. Always so inspiring.

Unknown said...

If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad.
- Lord Byron

I love this! It literally IS a means to empty my mind...which never stops filling up. lol

Anonymous said...

I love quotes by other wrIters on writing. My favorite is the one by Christopher Morley.

Anonymous said...

Love these--thanks for sharing. This is my favorite:. We don't write what we know. We write what we wonder about

Katja Weinert said...

Mark Twain quotes are so witty! I'd have to agree with: "I have rewritten- often several times- every word I have ever written. My pencils outlast their erasures.
- Vladimir Nabokov

I may not use a pencil but on my keyboard the delete key is wearing out quicker than some of the letter keys...except the 'N' which for some reason is nearly blank.

Ruth Schiffmann said...

"My pencils outlast their erasers." I like that one ;)