{ "type": "topic", "site": { "name": "Leafy Quotes", "language": "en", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com" }, "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.", "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing", "heading": "Quotes about writing", "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing.json", "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing.md", "quotes_count": 337, "authors_count": 176, "parent": { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature", "heading": "Quotes about literature" }, "children": [ { "name": "literary style", "slug": "literary-style", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literary-style", "heading": "Quotes about literary style" } ], "quotes": [ { "id": "89b37098-0d4a-41de-915f-1bdc0cf5a5db", "slug": "i-headed-toward", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy/i-headed-toward", "text": "I headed toward home alone, really alone now, telling myself that in all the sprawling immensity of our mighty continent the least-known factor of living was the human heart, the least-sought goal of being was a way to live a human life. Perhaps, I thought, out of my tortured feelings I could fling a spark into this darkness. I would try, not because I wanted to but because I felt that I had to if I were to live at all.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Wright", "slug": "richard-wright", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright" }, "book": { "title": "Black Boy", "slug": "black-boy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "human nature", "slug": "human-nature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Wright#Black_Boy_(1945)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T14:30:05" }, { "id": "6476c85c-6182-411b-b9a3-f4fc3ff02238", "slug": "yes-the-whites", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy/yes-the-whites", "text": "Yes, the whites were as miserable as their black victims, I thought. If this country can’t find its way to a human path, if it can’t inform conduct with a deep sense of life, then all of us, black as well as white, are going down the same drain…\n\nI picked up a pencil and held it over a sheet of white paper, but my feelings stood in the way of my words. Well, I would wait, day and night, until I knew what to say. Humbly now, with no vaulting dream of achieving a vast unity, I wanted to try to build a bridge of words between me and that world outside, that world which was so distant and elusive that it seemed unreal.\n\nI would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of the hunger for life that gnaws in us all, to keep alive in our hearts a sense of the inexpressibly human.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Wright", "slug": "richard-wright", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright" }, "book": { "title": "Black Boy", "slug": "black-boy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "words", "slug": "words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/words" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Wright#Black_Boy_(1945)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T14:30:05" }, { "id": "d518a186-d898-42fb-b062-fa20acab1ec8", "slug": "repeatedly-i-took", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy/repeatedly-i-took", "text": "Repeatedly I took stabs at writing, but the results were so poor that I would tear up the sheets. I was striving for a level of expression that matched those of the novels I read. But I always somehow failed to get onto the page what I thought and felt. Failing at sustained narrative, I compromised by playing with single sentences and phrases. Under the influence of Stein’s Three Lives, I spent hours and days pounding out disconnected sentences for the sheer love of words. I would write: “The soft melting hunk of butter trickled in gold down the stringy grooves of the split yam.” Or: “The child’s clumsy fingers fumbled in sleep, feeling vainly for the wish of its dream.” “The old man huddled in the dark doorway, his bony face lit by the burning yellow in the windows of distant skyscrapers.” My purpose was to capture a physical state or movement that carried a strong subjective impression, an accomplishment which seemed supremely worth struggling for. If I could fasten the mind of the reader upon words so firmly that he would forget words and be conscious only of his response, I felt that I would be in sight of knowing how to write narrative. I strove to master words, to make them disappear, to make them important by making them new, to make them melt into a rising spiral of emotional stimuli, each greater than the other, each feeding and reinforcing the other, and all ending in an emotional climax that would drench the reader with a sense of a new world. That was the single aim of my living.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Wright", "slug": "richard-wright", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright" }, "book": { "title": "Black Boy", "slug": "black-boy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "words", "slug": "words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/words" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Wright#Black_Boy_(1945)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T14:30:04" }, { "id": "a5302730-ed0c-4b1e-a1b2-27e2d3f81fe8", "slug": "i-spent-my-nights", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy/i-spent-my-nights", "text": "I spent my nights reading Proust’s A Remembrance of Things Past, admiring the lucid, subtle but strong prose, stupefied by its dazzling magic, awed by the vast, delicate, intricate, and psychological structure of the Frenchman’s epic of death and decadence. But it crushed me with hopelessness, for I wanted to write of the people in my environment with an equal thoroughness, and the burning example before my eyes made me feel that I never could.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Wright", "slug": "richard-wright", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright" }, "book": { "title": "Black Boy", "slug": "black-boy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Wright#Black_Boy_(1945)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T14:30:04" }, { "id": "5c3be2b6-3967-4f98-a7fe-a10c93df3756", "slug": "and-at-last", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy/and-at-last", "text": "“And at last the darkness of the night descended and softly-kissed the surface of the watery grave and the only sound was the lonely rustle of the ancient trees,” I wrote as I penned the final line. I was excited; I read it over and saw that there was a yawning void in it. There was no plot, no action, nothing save atmosphere and longing and death. But I had never in my life done anything like it; I had made something, no matter how bad it was; and it was mine…Now, to whom could I show it?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Wright", "slug": "richard-wright", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright" }, "book": { "title": "Black Boy", "slug": "black-boy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Wright#Black_Boy_(1945)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T14:30:04" }, { "id": "20576916-b4f6-43c4-a4ac-c3833387da6d", "slug": "my-schoolmates-could", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy/my-schoolmates-could", "text": "My schoolmates could not understand why anyone would want to write a story; and, above all, they could not understand why I had called it The Voodoo of Hell’s Half-Acre. The mood out of which a story was written was the most alien thing conceivable to them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Wright", "slug": "richard-wright", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright" }, "book": { "title": "Black Boy", "slug": "black-boy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Wright#Black_Boy_(1945)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T14:30:04" }, { "id": "61af1518-32c8-4a09-a622-b999fc968ee0", "slug": "the-power-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/giovanni-boccaccio/the-decameron/the-power-of-the", "text": "The power of the pen is far greater than those people suppose who have not proved it by experience.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Giovanni Boccaccio", "slug": "giovanni-boccaccio", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/giovanni-boccaccio" }, "book": { "title": "The Decameron", "slug": "the-decameron", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/giovanni-boccaccio/the-decameron" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "words", "slug": "words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/words" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giovanni_Boccaccio#The_Decameron_(c._1350)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:10:04" }, { "id": "8569863f-9f6f-4ec7-a564-a0dcab559150", "slug": "it-is-noble", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire/candide/it-is-noble", "text": "It is noble to write as we think; it is the privilege of humanity.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Voltaire", "slug": "voltaire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire" }, "book": { "title": "Candide", "slug": "candide", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/voltaire/candide" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Candide#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:47" }, { "id": "8be1d2f9-45c9-4bac-b7e7-6e9c5ca839c3", "slug": "when-we-see", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal/pensees/when-we-see", "text": "When we see a natural style, we are astonished and delighted; for we expected to see an author, and we find a man. Whereas those who have good taste, and who seeing a book expect to find a man, are quite surprised to find an author. Plus poetice quam humane locutus es. \"You have spoken more poetically than humanly.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Blaise Pascal", "slug": "blaise-pascal", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal" }, "book": { "title": "Pensees", "slug": "pensees", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal/pensees" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pens%C3%A9es#Section_I:_Thoughts_on_Mind_and_Style_(1-59)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:54" }, { "id": "7d1deb0b-5569-48bc-9de8-c149f2964d65", "slug": "the-last-thing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal/pensees/the-last-thing", "text": "The last thing one settles in writing a book is what one should put in first.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Blaise Pascal", "slug": "blaise-pascal", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal" }, "book": { "title": "Pensees", "slug": "pensees", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal/pensees" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pens%C3%A9es#Section_I:_Thoughts_on_Mind_and_Style_(1-59)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:54" }, { "id": "a8f4827a-2620-4876-855f-2bbd130488ee", "slug": "every-novel-is-like", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jose-saramago/the-history-of-the-siege-of-lisbon/every-novel-is-like", "text": "Every novel is like this, desperation, a frustrated attempt to save something of the past. Except that it still has not been established whether it is the novel that prevents man from forgetting himself or the impossibility of forgetfulness that makes him write novels.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "José Saramago", "slug": "jose-saramago", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jose-saramago" }, "book": { "title": "The History of the Siege of Lisbon", "slug": "the-history-of-the-siege-of-lisbon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jose-saramago/the-history-of-the-siege-of-lisbon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 47, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "memory", "slug": "memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/memory" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Saramago#The_History_of_the_Siege_of_Lisbon_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:45" }, { "id": "1b4b0106-355d-4a96-a9de-240b3c8d616a", "slug": "reading-maketh-a-full", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/francis-bacon/the-essays/reading-maketh-a-full", "text": "Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Francis Bacon", "slug": "francis-bacon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/francis-bacon" }, "book": { "title": "The Essays", "slug": "the-essays", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/francis-bacon/the-essays" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Essays_(Francis_Bacon)#Of_Studies", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:22" }, { "id": "02e2c315-a3bf-4b1a-ab78-b5bae02987c0", "slug": "hence-comes-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/confessions/hence-comes-the", "text": "Hence comes the extreme difficulty which I find in writing. My manuscripts, scratched, smeared, muddled and almost illegible, bear witness to the trouble they have cost me. There is not one of them which I have not been obliged to copy four or five times before I could give it to the printer. I have never been able to produce anything, pen in hand, in front of my table and paper; it is during a walk, in the midst of rocks and forests, at night in my bed while lying awake, that I write in my brain; one may judge how slowly, especially in the case of a man utterly without verbal memory and who has never been able to learn six lines by heart in his life. Many of my periods have been turned and turned again five or six nights in my head before they were fit to be set down on paper. This, also, is the reason why I succeed better in works which require labour than in those which require to be written with a certain lightness of style, such as letters – a style of which I have never been able to properly catch the tone, so that such occupation is a perfect torture to me. I cannot write a letter on the most trifling subject, which does not cost me hours of fatigue; or, if I try to write down immediately what occurs to me, I know neither how to begin nor how to end; my letter is a long and confused mass of verbosity, and, when it is read, my meaning is difficult to make out. Not only is it painful for me to put my ideas into shape: I also find a difficulty in grasping them. I have studied mankind, and believe that I am a fairly shrewd observer; nevertheless, I cannot see clearly anything of all that I perceive; I only see clearly what I remember, and only show intelligence in my recollections. Of all that is said, of all that is done, of all that goes on in my presence, I feel nothing, I see through nothing. The outward sign is the only thing that strikes me. But, later, all comes back to me; I recall place, time, manner, look, gesture, and circumstance: nothing escapes me. Then, from what people have said or done, I discover what they have thought; and I am rarely mistaken. If, when alone with myself, I am so little master of my intellectual capacity, it may be imagined what I must be in conversation, when, in order to speak to the purpose, it is necessary to think of a thousand things at the same time and at once.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Confessions", "slug": "confessions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/confessions" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confessions_(Rousseau)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:04" }, { "id": "16de21cf-2ec0-42b4-ac3a-811a4b41536c", "slug": "it-was-thought", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/confessions/it-was-thought", "text": "It was thought that I could write according to the rules of a trade, like all other literary men, whereas I have never been able to write except from inspiration.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Confessions", "slug": "confessions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/confessions" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "inspiration", "slug": "inspiration", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/inspiration" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confessions_(Rousseau)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:03" }, { "id": "d3e1ac04-995f-49ac-a32e-1d8e6bdabda2", "slug": "theres-always-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme/not-knowing/theres-always-the", "text": "There’s always the tension between losing an audience and doing the odd things you might want to try. The effort is always to make what you write nourishing or useful to readers. You do cut out some readers by idiosyncrasies of form. I regret this.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Donald Barthelme", "slug": "donald-barthelme", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme" }, "book": { "title": "Not-Knowing", "slug": "not-knowing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme/not-knowing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 271, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Not-Knowing:_The_Essays_and_Interviews_of_Donald_Barthelme#Interviews", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:01" }, { "id": "615ca0bc-9f9e-4af3-9898-5e549a58d960", "slug": "i-look-for", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme/not-knowing/i-look-for", "text": "I look for a particular kind of sentence, perhaps more often the awkward than the beautiful. A broke-back sentence is interesting. Any sentence that begins with the phrase, “It is not clear that...” is clearly clumsy but preparing itself for greatness of a kind. A way of backing into a story—of getting past the reader’s hardwon armor.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Donald Barthelme", "slug": "donald-barthelme", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme" }, "book": { "title": "Not-Knowing", "slug": "not-knowing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme/not-knowing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 262, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Not-Knowing:_The_Essays_and_Interviews_of_Donald_Barthelme#Interviews", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:01" }, { "id": "1d846c6d-3767-4d76-8b68-4eab517250ea", "slug": "art-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme/not-knowing/art-is-not", "text": "Art is not difficult because it wishes to be difficult, but because it wishes to be art. However much the writer might long to be, in his work, simple, honest, and straightforward, these virtues are no longer available to him. He discovers that in being simple, honest, and straightforward, nothing much happens: he speaks the speakable, whereas what we are looking for is the as-yet unspeakable, the as-yet unspoken.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Donald Barthelme", "slug": "donald-barthelme", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme" }, "book": { "title": "Not-Knowing", "slug": "not-knowing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme/not-knowing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 15, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "art", "slug": "art", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Not-Knowing:_The_Essays_and_Interviews_of_Donald_Barthelme#Essays", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:01" }, { "id": "060b14f4-c87c-43c0-a945-53cf209dd2e1", "slug": "every-writer-in-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme/not-knowing/every-writer-in-the", "text": "Every writer in the country can write a beautiful sentence, or a hundred. What I am interested in is the ugly sentence that is also somehow beautiful. I agree that this is a highly specialized enterprise, akin to the manufacture of merkins, say—but it’s what I do. Probably I have missed the point of the literature business entirely.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Donald Barthelme", "slug": "donald-barthelme", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme" }, "book": { "title": "Not-Knowing", "slug": "not-knowing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme/not-knowing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 57, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Not-Knowing:_The_Essays_and_Interviews_of_Donald_Barthelme#Essays", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:01" }, { "id": "cd8fe83f-0106-4850-a6dd-6b1d562f29a7", "slug": "never-believe-a-writer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/the-langoliers/never-believe-a-writer", "text": "Never believe a writer. Listen to them, by all means, but never believe them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "The Langoliers", "slug": "the-langoliers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/the-langoliers" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Langoliers#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:43" }, { "id": "ab1d2352-93d4-494d-b1bb-90eaf1171d86", "slug": "some-of-this", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/some-of-this", "text": "Some of this book—perhaps too much—has been about how I learned to do it. Much of it has been about how you can do it better. The rest of it—and perhaps the best of it—is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:43" }, { "id": "7bd328e7-dabf-42a6-8233-42fc7f27f280", "slug": "good-writing-on-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/good-writing-on-the", "text": "Good writing, on the other hand, teaches the learning writer about style, graceful narration, plot development, the creation of believable characters, and truth-telling.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:43" }, { "id": "f5a392da-8be4-430c-8ec4-d4cd3ee37da7", "slug": "writing-is-a-lonely", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/writing-is-a-lonely", "text": "Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference. They don’t have to make speeches. Just believing is usually enough.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:42" }, { "id": "ddbfd723-22f1-423d-9b2c-42ca9b167e9e", "slug": "i-believe-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/i-believe-the", "text": "I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:42" }, { "id": "dbed4e9a-f76e-40c6-95c1-857de55ed349", "slug": "words-create-sentences", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/words-create-sentences", "text": "\"Words create sentences; sentences create paragraphs; sometimes paragraphs quicken and begin to breathe. Imagine if you like, Frankenstein's monster on its slab. Here comes lightning, not from the sky but from a humble paragraph of English words. Maybe it's the first really good paragraph you wrote, something so fragile and yet full of possibility that you are frightened. You feel as Victor Frankenstein must have when the dead conglomeration of sewn-together spare parts suddenly opened its watery yellow eyes. Oh my God, it's breathing, you realize. Maybe it's even thinking. What in hell's name do I do next?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:42" }, { "id": "d6f47849-09e1-4acf-9355-ae477944fa27", "slug": "if-you-dont", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/if-you-dont", "text": "If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:42" }, { "id": "c66009ab-c1be-46a3-a932-438499d4fcc9", "slug": "im-convinced-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/im-convinced-that", "text": "\"I'm convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fear", "slug": "fear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:42" }, { "id": "c65d8965-19f1-4936-aa0c-e4efedd83869", "slug": "one-rule-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/one-rule-of-the", "text": "One rule of the road not directly stated elsewhere in this book: \"The editor is always right.\" The corollary is that no writer will take all of his or her editor's advice; for all have sinned and fallen short of editorial perfection. Put another way, to write is human, to edit is divine.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:42" }, { "id": "959afba4-5883-4bc9-9f88-1c3aa83f86e2", "slug": "lets-get-one", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/lets-get-one", "text": "Let's get one thing clear right now, shall we? There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers; good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "ideas", "slug": "ideas", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ideas" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:42" }, { "id": "90063c84-829e-41e1-b44b-ccdeb4437440", "slug": "when-you-write", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/when-you-write", "text": "When you write a story, you're telling yourself the story...When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:42" }, { "id": "7e138e09-59f7-4496-99b1-f32e1a4531b3", "slug": "for-me-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/for-me-writing", "text": "For me writing has always been best when it's intimate, as sexy as skin on skin.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:42" }, { "id": "6e2b6cc8-7012-4ed8-a985-4b47d2eff237", "slug": "description-is-what", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/description-is-what", "text": "Description is what makes the reader a sensory participant in the story. Good description is a learned skill, one of the prime reasons why you cannot succeed unless you read a lot and write a lot. It's not just a question of how-to, you see; it's also a question of how much to. Reading will help you answer how much, and only reams of writing will help you with the how. You can learn only by doing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:42" }, { "id": "12c7139d-83e3-4874-8e96-08f16c495718", "slug": "if-you-want", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing/if-you-want", "text": "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/On_Writing#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:42" }, { "id": "dc6a22b8-1c24-4473-8284-a13ebf7719d2", "slug": "i-didnt-write", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/night-shift/i-didnt-write", "text": "I didn't write them for money; I wrote them because it occurred to me to write them. I have a marketable obsession. There are madmen and madwomen in padded cells the world over who are not so lucky.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen King", "slug": "stephen-king", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king" }, "book": { "title": "Night Shift", "slug": "night-shift", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-king/night-shift" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "obsession", "slug": "obsession", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/obsession" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Night_Shift_(short_story_collection)#Foreword", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:18:41" }, { "id": "cc22de5f-a298-417b-8a4d-070ef14cc005", "slug": "eavesdropping-is-a-habit", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-smiley/moo/eavesdropping-is-a-habit", "text": "Eavesdropping is a habit fiction writers get into. Fiction writing will lead you into a number of socially unacceptable practices.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jane Smiley", "slug": "jane-smiley", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-smiley" }, "book": { "title": "Moo", "slug": "moo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-smiley/moo" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jane_Smiley#Moo_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:26" }, { "id": "df3c1490-0bbb-40c8-9fc6-635aaf93d70b", "slug": "and-how-is-clarity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/f-l-lucas/style/and-how-is-clarity", "text": "And how is clarity to be acquired? Mainly by taking trouble; and by writing to serve people rather than to impress them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "F. L. Lucas", "slug": "f-l-lucas", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/f-l-lucas" }, "book": { "title": "Style", "slug": "style", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/f-l-lucas/style" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 76, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/F._L._Lucas#Style_(1955)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:17" }, { "id": "211d9a12-7158-4c56-bbaf-9c6ab7dcb63e", "slug": "a-writer-should", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/f-l-lucas/style/a-writer-should", "text": "A writer should remember that about his Muse there is a great deal of the Siren. He should view his mental offspring as relentlessly as a Spartan father — if it is not perfectly sound, let it be cast out.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "F. L. Lucas", "slug": "f-l-lucas", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/f-l-lucas" }, "book": { "title": "Style", "slug": "style", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/f-l-lucas/style" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 165, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/F._L._Lucas#Style_(1955)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:17" }, { "id": "f86427e6-61dc-45f2-acb3-e3d6b8f37678", "slug": "but-his-illness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-moers/the-city-of-dreaming-books/but-his-illness", "text": "But his illness never attained the merciful degree of severity that would have entitled him to a spell in a lunatic asylum and absolve him from further work. It wasn’t quite severe enough for a lunatic; only for a writer.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Walter Moers", "slug": "walter-moers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-moers" }, "book": { "title": "The City Of Dreaming Books", "slug": "the-city-of-dreaming-books", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-moers/the-city-of-dreaming-books" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 339, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Moers#The_City_of_Dreaming_Books_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:13" }, { "id": "4665042e-53e9-4a80-9ed5-dcea5c096b63", "slug": "regenschein-is-dead", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-moers/the-city-of-dreaming-books/regenschein-is-dead", "text": "“Regenschein is dead, my friend. You’re delirious.”\n\n“No one who writes a good book is really dead.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Walter Moers", "slug": "walter-moers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-moers" }, "book": { "title": "The City Of Dreaming Books", "slug": "the-city-of-dreaming-books", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-moers/the-city-of-dreaming-books" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 372, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "death", "slug": "death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Moers#The_City_of_Dreaming_Books_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:13" }, { "id": "0a9f956e-031e-4237-9d2f-d32d5566c035", "slug": "writing-is-a-desperate", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-moers/the-city-of-dreaming-books/writing-is-a-desperate", "text": "Writing is a desperate attempt to extract some dignity – and a modicum of money – from solitude.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Walter Moers", "slug": "walter-moers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-moers" }, "book": { "title": "The City Of Dreaming Books", "slug": "the-city-of-dreaming-books", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/walter-moers/the-city-of-dreaming-books" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 269, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Moers#The_City_of_Dreaming_Books_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:13" }, { "id": "794a2796-1674-4765-8821-b9d23bce10ba", "slug": "if-i-remember", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leonora-carrington/the-hearing-trumpet/if-i-remember", "text": "If I remember correctly writers usually find some excuse for their books, although why one should excuse oneself for having such a quiet and peaceful occupation I really don't know. Military people never seem to apologize for killing each other yet novelists feel ashamed for writing some nice inert paper book that is not certain to be read by anybody. Values are very strange, they change so quickly I can’t keep track of them. (p21)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Leonora Carrington", "slug": "leonora-carrington", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leonora-carrington" }, "book": { "title": "The Hearing Trumpet", "slug": "the-hearing-trumpet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leonora-carrington/the-hearing-trumpet" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "values", "slug": "values", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/values" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leonora_Carrington#The_Hearing_Trumpet_(novel)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:06:11" }, { "id": "247269ac-2a03-4766-8684-b1ae8f5048ad", "slug": "i-sit-at-my-window", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-rhys/wide-sargasso-sea/i-sit-at-my-window", "text": "I sit at my window and the words fly past me like birds — with God's help I catch some.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Rhys", "slug": "jean-rhys", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-rhys" }, "book": { "title": "Wide Sargasso Sea", "slug": "wide-sargasso-sea", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-rhys/wide-sargasso-sea" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Rhys#Part_Two", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:53" }, { "id": "2f2a2c29-b19c-42f9-89e5-161a159c25cd", "slug": "i-make-no-conscious", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-m-cain/double-indemnity/i-make-no-conscious", "text": "I make no conscious effort to be tough, or , or grim, or any of the things I am usually called. I merely try to write as the character would write, and I never forget that the average man, from the fields, the streets, the bars, the offices, and even the gutters of his country, has acquired a vividness of speech that goes beyond anything I could invent, and that if I stick to this heritage, this of the American countryside, I shall attain a maximum of effectiveness with very little effort.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James M. Cain", "slug": "james-m-cain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-m-cain" }, "book": { "title": "Double Indemnity", "slug": "double-indemnity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-m-cain/double-indemnity" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "language", "slug": "language", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_M._Cain#Double_Indemnity_(1936)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:32" }, { "id": "86d9b5f4-97da-4f0d-9696-ac6c30617346", "slug": "in-southern-africa", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eskia-mphahlele/down-second-avenue/in-southern-africa", "text": "In Southern Africa, the black writer talks best about the ghetto life he knows; the white writer best about his own ghetto life. We see each other, black and white, as it were through a keyhole.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Es’kia Mphahlele", "slug": "eskia-mphahlele", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eskia-mphahlele" }, "book": { "title": "Down Second Avenue", "slug": "down-second-avenue", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eskia-mphahlele/down-second-avenue" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "racism", "slug": "racism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/racism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Es'kia_Mphahlele#Down_Second_Avenue_(1959)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:29" }, { "id": "e75f3ae3-ede2-4db5-914c-f1a0c381edd2", "slug": "this-is-my-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/odafe-atogun/tadunos-song/this-is-my-life", "text": "This is my life now. I’m grateful that I have arrived at this point. This is where I had always wanted to be; writing full-time is much more challenging than I had imagined, but I’m truly enjoying the experience and learning from it each day.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Odafe Atogun", "slug": "odafe-atogun", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/odafe-atogun" }, "book": { "title": "Taduno's Song", "slug": "tadunos-song", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/odafe-atogun/tadunos-song" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "gratitude", "slug": "gratitude", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Odafe_Atogun#Taduno's_Song_(2016)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:27" }, { "id": "e688c322-0ceb-4d18-942e-36f8288eb1c9", "slug": "for-me-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/odafe-atogun/tadunos-song/for-me-writing", "text": "For me, writing is a journey, and the start of that journey is a well-worn ritual that I must observe for several days before I can even begin.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Odafe Atogun", "slug": "odafe-atogun", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/odafe-atogun" }, "book": { "title": "Taduno's Song", "slug": "tadunos-song", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/odafe-atogun/tadunos-song" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "rituals", "slug": "rituals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rituals" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Odafe_Atogun#Taduno's_Song_(2016)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:27" }, { "id": "8ca5365d-8d4c-4a39-900a-ead7184739ad", "slug": "write-your-truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abi-dare/the-girl-with-the-louding-voice/write-your-truth", "text": "Write your truth, Ms. Tia say. Your truth.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Abi Dare", "slug": "abi-dare", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abi-dare" }, "book": { "title": "The Girl with the Louding Voice", "slug": "the-girl-with-the-louding-voice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abi-dare/the-girl-with-the-louding-voice" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abi_Dar%C3%A9#The_Girl_with_the_Louding_Voice_(2020)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:21" }, { "id": "bc4f7d07-a165-4543-ae6a-ba22b4353534", "slug": "my-gaze-meets", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dorit-rabinyan/all-the-rivers/my-gaze-meets", "text": "...my gaze meets the laptop screen and the words I poured out all afternoon. It began yesterday without any particular intent, just a quick reply to my sister. But today when I went back, the email suddenly took on a different form, more feverish, more poetic. I was seized by a storytelling binge, a lucid, cutting clarity, and from page to page the words joined together and frothed and flowed. And it is then that I realize I am not writing to Iris anymore. That the recipient is in fact myself, an as-of-yet unknown self, a me who has long ago gone back to Israel and is living my tomorrow-life in Tel Aviv, a distant me who will one day open up this file and read the words, and perhaps with hindsight have a better understanding of what is occurring inside me now, what I am going through in these mad and beautiful days. She will remember us as we once were, in New York, in Hilmi's Brooklyn studio. She will read the lines and remember how I sat here once on this couch, in December of 2002, like the bird perched on the windowsill all afternoon, and watched myself loving him while I wrote these words. (chapter 14)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Dorit Rabinyan", "slug": "dorit-rabinyan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dorit-rabinyan" }, "book": { "title": "All the Rivers", "slug": "all-the-rivers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dorit-rabinyan/all-the-rivers" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "memory", "slug": "memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/memory" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dorit_Rabinyan#All_the_Rivers_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:57" }, { "id": "9acd3339-12ff-4baa-94a2-45b8df0eb4e0", "slug": "it-is-difficult", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/one-basket/it-is-difficult", "text": "It is difficult to write a really good short story because it must be a complete and finished reflection of life with only a few words to use as tools. There isn't time for bad writing in a short story. In a novel one can be dull for pages and still get away with it. It is, to me, an interesting and baffling fact that today, more than thirty years after The Homely Heroine was written, it still is as difficult for me to write a short story (or anything, for that matter) as it was when first I began. A single short story may take a month, six weeks, two months to write. Usually, the easier they are to read the harder they are to write. Often a short story theme may take a year of conscious and subconscious thinking before it is ripe for writing. Sometimes a possible short story seems too tough to be worth the fight. But it stays around, taunting you, daring you to come on, and finally you write it to be rid of it...In some cases the reader may feel, after reading a short story, approximately the sensation he has experienced after having too hastily eaten a heavy meal. He has treated a dinner as a snack and his digestion rebels.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edna Ferber", "slug": "edna-ferber", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber" }, "book": { "title": "One Basket", "slug": "one-basket", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/one-basket" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edna_Ferber#Introduction", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:52" }, { "id": "62f673e7-f043-4b50-b2f5-882951b53d6a", "slug": "all-the-way", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/one-basket/all-the-way", "text": "All the way from Maugham and de Maupassant and Chekhov to Ring Lardner the short story has served to portray the characteristics, the habits, the manners, the morals, the emotions of a nation, a whole people. Certainly I knew no such highfalutin arguments as these when first I began to write short stories. I wrote short stories for the same reason that a child has who begins to walk after he has learned to stand up and to balance himself. It was for me the next natural step following newspaper reporting. I still think it is one of the most exhilarating and the most difficult forms of the writing art. When a reader says, \"Oh, only a short story!\" he has me to fight. There is something about the pace of the short story that catches the tempo of this country. If it is written with sincerity and skill it portrays a mood, a character, a background, or a situation. Sometimes it is not only typically American, it is universal in its feeling; sometimes its inherent truth is not a thing of the month, but of the years. When this is true, that short story is as genuinely a classic as any novel or play or piece of music.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edna Ferber", "slug": "edna-ferber", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber" }, "book": { "title": "One Basket", "slug": "one-basket", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/one-basket" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edna_Ferber#Introduction", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:52" }, { "id": "1c1730d4-089c-4526-924a-2b64e64040e4", "slug": "all-my-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/one-basket/all-my-writing", "text": "All my writing life I have written to please first myself. Never, except wartime, have I written to order on a theme or subject definitely requested or suggested. But war, to me, is not life at all. It is an excrescence, a cancer on the body of civilization.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edna Ferber", "slug": "edna-ferber", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber" }, "book": { "title": "One Basket", "slug": "one-basket", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/one-basket" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edna_Ferber#Introduction", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:52" }, { "id": "0d0a93c4-3648-420a-8f92-d396bb5e28ab", "slug": "this-is-certain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/a-peculiar-treasure/this-is-certain", "text": "This is certain: I never have written a line except to please myself. I never have written with an eye to what is called the public or the market or the trend or the editor or the reviewer. Good or bad, popular or unpopular, lasting or ephemeral, the words I have put down on paper were the best words I could summon at the time to express the thing I wanted more than anything else to say.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edna Ferber", "slug": "edna-ferber", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber" }, "book": { "title": "A Peculiar Treasure", "slug": "a-peculiar-treasure", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/a-peculiar-treasure" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "independence", "slug": "independence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/independence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edna_Ferber#A_Peculiar_Treasure_(1939)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:52" }, { "id": "02135f77-aec3-4206-a929-e7d29ed3a245", "slug": "the-writer-given", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/one-basket/the-writer-given", "text": "The writer given to rereading his or her past work is a writer in danger. Once you begin to mumble among your souvenirs you're through. Any writer who is properly a writer is working as long as he is alive or awake. It is virtually impossible for a writer to ride in the subway or on a bus, walk on the street or down a country road, telephone, read a book, talk, listen, breathe, without consciously or unconsciously sustaining the act of writing, in his mind at least. The analytical creative mind goes click-click-click while it is awake-and sometimes while it is asleep. It makes the writer's life interesting but somewhat feverish. Frequently one wishes it were possible to turn off the machinery that is eternally registering, collecting, discarding, filing. Writers are a tired lot, for the most part; and no wonder. It would be pleasant to know that these stories, some born long ago, others still young, have the strength and vitality to make new friends and even to renew old friendships. The writer herself is fond of them, or they would not be here. But the feeling is much that of a parent whose sons and daughters have married and gone off into the world. There they are, on their own at last, sink or swim, live or die. The author is finished with them, everything she can do for them has been done. And a new infant, not yet strong enough to walk alone, waits to be shown a way of life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edna Ferber", "slug": "edna-ferber", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber" }, "book": { "title": "One Basket", "slug": "one-basket", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/one-basket" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edna_Ferber#Introduction", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:52" }, { "id": "2d732e57-3409-4c58-aba5-f3904f726551", "slug": "we-all-see", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/erika-l-sanchez/crying-in-the-bathroom/we-all-see", "text": "We all see different versions of the same thing. I have written the truest book I was capable of creating. It's the way I've always made sense of the world and my life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Erika L. Sánchez", "slug": "erika-l-sanchez", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/erika-l-sanchez" }, "book": { "title": "Crying in the Bathroom", "slug": "crying-in-the-bathroom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/erika-l-sanchez/crying-in-the-bathroom" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erika_S%C3%A1nchez#Introduction", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:46" }, { "id": "3226ef7f-41b9-4790-beec-539c80ef17ff", "slug": "ever-since-i-started", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cathy-park-hong/minor-feelings/ever-since-i-started", "text": "Ever since I started writing poetry seriously, I have used English inappropriately.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Cathy Park Hong", "slug": "cathy-park-hong", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cathy-park-hong" }, "book": { "title": "Minor Feelings", "slug": "minor-feelings", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/cathy-park-hong/minor-feelings" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "language", "slug": "language", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language" }, { "name": "poetry", "slug": "poetry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poetry" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cathy_Park_Hong#Minor_Feelings:_An_Asian_American_Reckoning_(2020)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:35" }, { "id": "aee239b1-99d0-4337-b1dd-223407f9fb4c", "slug": "for-me-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass/for-me-writing", "text": "For me, writing is an act of reciprocity with the world; it is what I can give back in return for everything that has been given to me.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robin Wall Kimmerer", "slug": "robin-wall-kimmerer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer" }, "book": { "title": "Braiding Sweetgrass", "slug": "braiding-sweetgrass", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 152, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "gratitude", "slug": "gratitude", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robin_Wall_Kimmerer#Braiding_Sweetgrass_(2013)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:31" }, { "id": "9d5ba11f-0410-48a1-ae18-913bf2df3edb", "slug": "written-words-can", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ngugi-wa-thiongo/dreams-in-a-time-of-war/written-words-can", "text": "Written words can also sing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ngugi wa Thiong'o", "slug": "ngugi-wa-thiongo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ngugi-wa-thiongo" }, "book": { "title": "Dreams in a Time of War", "slug": "dreams-in-a-time-of-war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ngugi-wa-thiongo/dreams-in-a-time-of-war" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "words", "slug": "words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/words" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ng%C5%A9g%C4%A9_wa_Thiong'o#Dreams_in_a_Time_of_War_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:25" }, { "id": "41f8b08a-72d8-4b57-be97-305c70bbaecb", "slug": "maybe-the-true", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/annie-ernaux/happening/maybe-the-true", "text": "Maybe the true purpose of my life is for my body, my sensations and my thoughts to become writing, in other words, something intelligible and universal, causing my existence to merge into the lives and heads of other people.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Annie Ernaux", "slug": "annie-ernaux", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/annie-ernaux" }, "book": { "title": "Happening", "slug": "happening", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/annie-ernaux/happening" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 178, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "meaning of life", "slug": "meaning-of-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/meaning-of-life" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Annie_Ernaux#Happening_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:21" }, { "id": "bec60afa-1b56-4152-8036-73ebbd6128ac", "slug": "multiple-exclamation-marks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/eric/multiple-exclamation-marks", "text": "\"Multiple exclamation marks,\" he went on, shaking his head, \"are a sure sign of a diseased mind.\" (p. 153)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Terry Pratchett", "slug": "terry-pratchett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett" }, "book": { "title": "Eric", "slug": "eric", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/eric" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eric_(novel)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:14" }, { "id": "b3c0fad3-d65d-48a7-b75b-414bd4d9fe8a", "slug": "a-writers-task", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-okri/the-age-of-magic/a-writers-task", "text": "\"A writer's task is not merely to describe the world but to deepen our way of seeing it.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ben Okri", "slug": "ben-okri", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-okri" }, "book": { "title": "The Age of Magic", "slug": "the-age-of-magic", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-okri/the-age-of-magic" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Okri#The_Age_of_Magic_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:03" }, { "id": "90fd4feb-b956-42bc-a54b-28430d19e8b3", "slug": "writing-is-a-way", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-okri/the-age-of-magic/writing-is-a-way", "text": "\"Writing is a way of paying attention to life.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ben Okri", "slug": "ben-okri", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-okri" }, "book": { "title": "The Age of Magic", "slug": "the-age-of-magic", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ben-okri/the-age-of-magic" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "attention", "slug": "attention", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/attention" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Okri#The_Age_of_Magic_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:03" }, { "id": "da241e8a-d621-4aa1-b129-c0d298a9f822", "slug": "the-best-advice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/steal-like-an-artist/the-best-advice", "text": "The best advice is not to write what you know, it's to write what you like. Write the kind of story you like best— write the story you want to read. The same principle applies to your life and your career. Whenever you're at a loss for what move to make next, just ask yourself, \"What would make a better story?\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Austin Kleon", "slug": "austin-kleon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon" }, "book": { "title": "Steal Like an Artist", "slug": "steal-like-an-artist", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/austin-kleon/steal-like-an-artist" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "choices", "slug": "choices", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/choices" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Austin_Kleon#Steal_Like_an_Artist_(2012)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:59" }, { "id": "3c25987e-4215-4d8d-95d2-7a7d1867752f", "slug": "what-is-written", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/genevieve-cogman/the-mortal-word/what-is-written", "text": "What is written can be erased, alas.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Genevieve Cogman", "slug": "genevieve-cogman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/genevieve-cogman" }, "book": { "title": "The Mortal Word", "slug": "the-mortal-word", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/genevieve-cogman/the-mortal-word" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 179, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Genevieve_Cogman#The_Mortal_Word_(2018)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:53" }, { "id": "96f71118-1c2a-48b3-be38-21d467f20562", "slug": "what-i-wrote", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-alexander-percy/lanterns-on-the-levee/what-i-wrote", "text": "What I wrote seemed to me more essentially myself than anything I did or said. It often gushed up almost involuntarily like automatic writing, and the difficulty lay in keeping the hot gush continuous and unselfconscious while at the same time directing it with cold intellect into form. I never could write in cold blood. The results were intensely personal, whatever their other defects. (Ch. 12, on writing poetry)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Alexander Percy", "slug": "william-alexander-percy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-alexander-percy" }, "book": { "title": "Lanterns On The Levee", "slug": "lanterns-on-the-levee", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-alexander-percy/lanterns-on-the-levee" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "poetry", "slug": "poetry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poetry" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Alexander_Percy#Lanterns_on_the_Levee_(1941)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:50" }, { "id": "e17ad0c1-6932-4efd-b2ce-5d571a60f672", "slug": "and-so-it-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/reamde/and-so-it-was", "text": "And so it was that Richard had conceived Corporation 9592’s Writers in Residence Program. Years later, he was astounded by the naïveté of it. Writers, as it turned out, rather liked having residences. Once they had moved in, it was nearly impossible to dislodge them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neal Stephenson", "slug": "neal-stephenson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson" }, "book": { "title": "Reamde", "slug": "reamde", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/reamde" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Reamde#Thanksgiving", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:45" }, { "id": "a0bef9ea-7b30-40f2-9ec0-3ab2805af036", "slug": "home-is-collecting", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayelet-tsabari/the-art-of-leaving/home-is-collecting", "text": "Home is collecting stories, writing them down, and retelling them. Home is writing, and it grounds, sustains, and nourishes me. Home is the page. The one place I always, always come back to.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayelet Tsabari", "slug": "ayelet-tsabari", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayelet-tsabari" }, "book": { "title": "The Art of Leaving", "slug": "the-art-of-leaving", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayelet-tsabari/the-art-of-leaving" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "home", "slug": "home", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/home" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ayelet_Tsabari#The_Art_of_Leaving_(2019_memoir)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:01" }, { "id": "7d4a67eb-155c-43ad-9ada-34319d3e8476", "slug": "this-allowed-me", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/andy-weir/the-martian/this-allowed-me", "text": "This allowed me to do what writers treasure more than anything else: catch the reader off-guard. There’s nothing better than knowing you’re going to outwit with the reader. And the type of people who read sci-fi are very difficult to outwit.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Andy Weir", "slug": "andy-weir", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/andy-weir" }, "book": { "title": "The Martian", "slug": "the-martian", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/andy-weir/the-martian" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 385, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andy_Weir#The_Martian_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:00" }, { "id": "83fc9738-7d37-4e49-8112-088cf28ceb19", "slug": "did-she-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/buchi-emecheta/second-class-citizen/did-she-not", "text": "Did she not feel totally fulfilled when she had completed the manuscript, just as if it were another baby she had had?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Buchi Emecheta", "slug": "buchi-emecheta", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/buchi-emecheta" }, "book": { "title": "Second-Class Citizen", "slug": "second-class-citizen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/buchi-emecheta/second-class-citizen" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Buchi_Emecheta#Second_Class_Citizen_(1974)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:52" }, { "id": "293d78e7-ac60-4cd1-ba89-7e2c5e289db0", "slug": "if-a-woman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/the-fifth-book-of-peace/if-a-woman", "text": "If a woman is going to write a Book of Peace, it is given her to know devastation. (\"Fire\" opening line)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Maxine Hong Kingston", "slug": "maxine-hong-kingston", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston" }, "book": { "title": "The Fifth Book of Peace", "slug": "the-fifth-book-of-peace", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/the-fifth-book-of-peace" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "peace", "slug": "peace", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/peace" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maxine_Hong_Kingston#The_Fifth_Book_of_Peace_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:46" }, { "id": "ac26408a-17de-4dfd-93c0-66dc2547bb11", "slug": "but-this-isnt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates/young-hearts-crying/but-this-isnt", "text": "\"But this isn't a lecture course. The only way any of us can learn this craft is by saturating ourselves in examples of it, in and out of print, and then trying to put the best of what we've found into our own work.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Yates", "slug": "richard-yates", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates" }, "book": { "title": "Young Hearts Crying", "slug": "young-hearts-crying", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-yates/young-hearts-crying" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 187, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Yates#Young_Hearts_Crying_(1984)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:43" }, { "id": "eb7bb95a-1249-4ea5-9ff9-eeb9d058ca75", "slug": "push-yourself-beyond", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/push-yourself-beyond", "text": "Push yourself beyond when you think you are done with what you have to say. […] It is beyond the point when you think you are done that often something strong comes out.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 112, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "perseverance", "slug": "perseverance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "cfb7db28-973d-42d9-ae0b-e2d8add4cd38", "slug": "anything-we-fully", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/anything-we-fully", "text": "Anything we fully do is an alone journey. […] You are alone when you write a book. Accept that and take in any love and support that is given to you, but don't have expectations of how it is supposed to be.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 179, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "cc37775e-599f-43e2-92dc-faf25d91ee92", "slug": "just-write-just", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/just-write-just", "text": "Just write. Just write. Just write. [...]\n\nWhen we are in the heart of writing it doesn't matter where we are. We can write anyplace.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 110, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "aabd6b08-dc61-4d1d-ad2a-a28ebee6c091", "slug": "wait-until-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/wait-until-you", "text": "Wait until you are hungry to say something, until there is an aching in you to speak. Then come back.\n\nDon't worry. You won't have lost time. Your energy will be more direct and less wasted.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 140, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "patience", "slug": "patience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/patience" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "a5cc2990-ba29-4a04-81d8-dd24ce311a27", "slug": "be-specific-dont", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/be-specific-dont", "text": "Be specific. \"Don't say \"fruit\". Tell what kind of fruit.\n\nLearn the names of everything: birds, cheese, tractors, cars, buildings.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 77, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "99dbd5f0-eb3e-42cc-bceb-551280c8b44f", "slug": "writers-write-about", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/writers-write-about", "text": "Writers write about things that other people don't pay much attention to. […] A writer's job is to make the ordinary come alive, […]\n\nWhen we live in a place for too long, we grow dull. We don't notice what is around us. That is why a trip is so exciting. We are in a new place and see everything in a fresh way.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 108, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "travel", "slug": "travel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/travel" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "97e5ef5a-0661-41c0-8f9e-9e0cbe113c37", "slug": "in-a-rainstorm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/in-a-rainstorm", "text": "In a rainstorm, everyone quickly runs down the street with umbrellas, raincoats, newspapers over their heads. Writers go back outside in the rain with a notebook in front of them and a pen in hand. They look at the puddles, watch them fill, watch the rain splash in them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 53, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "attention", "slug": "attention", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/attention" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "9667c606-9616-4627-bd7e-3fd5c1c0d9c4", "slug": "i-went-home", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/i-went-home", "text": "I went home with the resolve to write what I knew and to trust my own thoughts and feelings and to not look outside myself. I was not in school anymore: I could say what I wanted.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 2, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "trust", "slug": "trust", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/trust" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "909bdb95-f5ce-4120-a9d4-0e003b6be9d4", "slug": "this-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/this-is-the", "text": "This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it. […] You practice whether you want to or not.\n\nThrough practice you actually do get better.\n\nSit down with the least expectation of yourself; say \"I am free to write the worst junk in the world.\" You have to give yourself the space to write a lot without a destination.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 11, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "perseverance", "slug": "perseverance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "90323481-ad17-436c-9053-04242c082829", "slug": "as-writers-we-have", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/as-writers-we-have", "text": "As writers we have to walk in the world in touch with that present, alert part of ourselves, that animal sense part that looks, sees, and notices - street signs, corners, fire hydrants, newspaper stands.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 91, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "attention", "slug": "attention", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/attention" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "8805ec14-c8fd-4d4a-ad55-c55f8fed8143", "slug": "read-a-lot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/read-a-lot", "text": "Read a lot, listen well and deeply, and write a lot. […]\n\nIf you read good books, when you write, good books will come out of you.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 59, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "8245a7aa-9ce2-4249-9347-a2d09889c7cc", "slug": "of-course-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/of-course-you", "text": "Of course, you can sit down and have something you want to say. But then you must let its expression be born in you and on the paper. Don't hold too tight; allow it to come out how it needs to rather than trying to control it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 39, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "7502831a-e070-4d17-a21b-bd46a5561411", "slug": "dont-worry-about", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/dont-worry-about", "text": "Don't worry about your talent or capability: that will grow as you practice. […] If you want to write a novel, write a novel. If it's essays you want or short stories, write them. In the process of writing them, you will learn how. You can have the confidence that you will gradually acquire the technique and craft you need.\n\n[…] We learn writing by doing it. That simple.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 32, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "perseverance", "slug": "perseverance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "32ba2934-84fb-4012-b0d9-b5616d728ba7", "slug": "you-tell-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/you-tell-the", "text": "You tell the truth and you depict it in detail.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "296b5ff9-bb42-4314-9f9a-19ff1440ca8f", "slug": "writers-move-with", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/writers-move-with", "text": "Writers move with grace in and out of many worlds.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 56, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "13b019e6-15b7-4c68-8bea-0dfa2a55c0cb", "slug": "use-original-detail", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones/use-original-detail", "text": "Use original detail in your writing. Life is so rich, if you can write down the real details of the way things were and are, you hardly need anything else.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Natalie Goldberg", "slug": "natalie-goldberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg" }, "book": { "title": "Writing Down the Bones", "slug": "writing-down-the-bones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/natalie-goldberg/writing-down-the-bones" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 45, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg#Writing_Down_the_Bones_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:30" }, { "id": "d129ce68-96f6-45e4-805d-b55b801340d5", "slug": "generally-people-who", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami/a-wild-sheep-chase/generally-people-who", "text": "Generally, people who are good at writing letters have no need to write letters. They've got plenty of life to lead inside their own context.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Haruki Murakami", "slug": "haruki-murakami", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami" }, "book": { "title": "A Wild Sheep Chase", "slug": "a-wild-sheep-chase", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/haruki-murakami/a-wild-sheep-chase" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Wild_Sheep_Chase#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:19" }, { "id": "6195424d-19e3-4a16-a9cc-90b2101e025c", "slug": "the-boyett-style", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/steven-r-boyett/ariel/the-boyett-style", "text": "The Boyett Style Guide: (a) anything worth doing is worth overdoing (I can’t write a check if it isn’t in iambic pentameter); (b) anything worth saying is worth saying three times; (c) leave no literary stone unturned; (d) fill all cracks, paint all surfaces, and illuminate all dark corners; and (e) whenever two or more metaphors are suitable, use them all. I never metaphor I didn’t like.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Steven R. Boyett", "slug": "steven-r-boyett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/steven-r-boyett" }, "book": { "title": "Ariel", "slug": "ariel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/steven-r-boyett/ariel" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 399, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steven_Boyett#Ariel_(1983)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:14" }, { "id": "0e8d4789-a063-4f52-9642-d79f4404089c", "slug": "belief-in-ones", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dan-simmons/hyperion/belief-in-ones", "text": "Belief in one’s identity as a poet or writer prior to the acid test of publication is as naive and harmless as the youthful belief in one’s immortality...and the inevitable disillusionment is just as painful.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Dan Simmons", "slug": "dan-simmons", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dan-simmons" }, "book": { "title": "Hyperion", "slug": "hyperion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dan-simmons/hyperion" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 186, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dan_Simmons#Hyperion_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:52" }, { "id": "338c85d7-4212-4d87-b8a9-eabb00a5b1da", "slug": "writing-is-lonely", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rebecca-solnit/hope-in-the-dark/writing-is-lonely", "text": "Writing is lonely, it’s an intimate talk with the dead, with the unborn, with the absent, with strangers, with the readers who may never come to be and who even if they read you will do so weeks, years, decades later. An essay, a book, is one statement in a long conversation you could call culture or history; you are answering something or questioning something that may have fallen silent long ago, and the response to your words may come long after you’re gone and never reach your ears, if anyone hears you in the first place. (p64)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Rebecca Solnit", "slug": "rebecca-solnit", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rebecca-solnit" }, "book": { "title": "Hope In The Dark", "slug": "hope-in-the-dark", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rebecca-solnit/hope-in-the-dark" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rebecca_Solnit#Hope_in_the_Dark:_The_Untold_History_of_People_Power_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:51" }, { "id": "6204d254-404b-41c4-bd49-f5e15e4013ec", "slug": "to-write-something", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson/beyond-order/to-write-something", "text": "To write something long, sophisticated, and coherent means, at least in part, to become more complex, articulate, and deeper in personality.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jordan B. Peterson", "slug": "jordan-b-peterson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson" }, "book": { "title": "Beyond Order", "slug": "beyond-order", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson/beyond-order" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 185, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jordan_Peterson#Beyond_Order_(2021)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:41" }, { "id": "a9549244-86c1-46cb-a41b-93b572ce1125", "slug": "im-uncomfortable-beginning", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/amit-chaudhuri/real-time/im-uncomfortable-beginning", "text": "‘I’m uncomfortable beginning at the beginning. It’s not because I’m clever, but because it’s a difficult thing, writing.’", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Amit Chaudhuri", "slug": "amit-chaudhuri", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/amit-chaudhuri" }, "book": { "title": "Real Time", "slug": "real-time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/amit-chaudhuri/real-time" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Amit_Chaudhuri#Real_Time_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:37" }, { "id": "1dfaef19-b2f2-410c-825f-eb5173135566", "slug": "throughout-my-career", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pat-conroy/the-death-of-santini/throughout-my-career", "text": "Throughout my career I've lived in constant fear that I wouldn’t be good enough, that I'd have nothing to say, that I’d be laughed at, humiliated—and I’m old enough to know that fear will follow me to the very last word I'll ever write. As for now, I feel the first itch of the novel I’m supposed to write—the grain of sand that irritates the soft tissues of the oyster. The beginning of the world as I don’t quite know it. But I trust I’ll begin to know it soon.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Pat Conroy", "slug": "pat-conroy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pat-conroy" }, "book": { "title": "The Death of Santini", "slug": "the-death-of-santini", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pat-conroy/the-death-of-santini" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 103, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fear", "slug": "fear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pat_Conroy#The_Death_of_Santini:_The_Story_of_a_Father_and_His_Son_(2013)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:35" }, { "id": "2f541f6b-0194-47bc-b6ef-afa900416de5", "slug": "writing-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pat-conroy/my-reading-life/writing-is-the", "text": "Writing is the only way I have to explain my own life to myself.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Pat Conroy", "slug": "pat-conroy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pat-conroy" }, "book": { "title": "My Reading Life", "slug": "my-reading-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pat-conroy/my-reading-life" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 67, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pat_Conroy#My_Reading_Life_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:34" }, { "id": "af8ad74e-7935-4c03-9aa4-010812f4a52e", "slug": "writing-is-born", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/yuval-noah-harari/sapiens/writing-is-born", "text": "Writing is born as the maidservant of human consciousness, but is increasingly becoming its master. Our computers have trouble understanding how Homo sapiens talks, feels and dreams. So we are teaching Homo sapiens to talk, feel and dream in the language of numbers, which can be understood by computers.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Yuval Noah Harari", "slug": "yuval-noah-harari", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/yuval-noah-harari" }, "book": { "title": "Sapiens", "slug": "sapiens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/yuval-noah-harari/sapiens" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "technology", "slug": "technology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/technology" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yuval_Noah_Harari#Chapter_7:_%22Memory_Overloaded%22", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:12" }, { "id": "646b81bb-d4d1-4bbc-9c7a-fa218a09a294", "slug": "i-wouldnt-give", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lucy-maud-montgomery/anne-of-the-island/i-wouldnt-give", "text": "\"I wouldn't give up altogether,\" said Mr. Harrison reflectively. \"I'd write a story once in a while, but I wouldn't pester editors with it. I'd write of people and places like I knew, and I'd make my characters talk everyday English; and I'd let the sun rise and set in the usual quiet way without much fuss over the fact. If I had to have villains at all, I'd give them a chance, Anne—I'd give them a chance. There are some terrible bad men in the world, I suppose, but you'd have to go a long piece to find them—though Mrs. Lynde believes we're all bad. But most of us have got a little decency somewhere in us.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lucy Maud Montgomery", "slug": "lucy-maud-montgomery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lucy-maud-montgomery" }, "book": { "title": "Anne of the Island", "slug": "anne-of-the-island", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lucy-maud-montgomery/anne-of-the-island" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lucy_Maud_Montgomery#Anne_of_the_Island_(1915)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:04" }, { "id": "936dad36-bb70-4d87-aac4-1d1a624d7901", "slug": "when-you-write", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edwidge-danticat/krik-krak/when-you-write", "text": "When you write, it’s like braiding your hair. Taking a handful of coarse, unruly strands and attempting to bring them into unity. Your fingers have still not perfected the task. Some of the braids are long, others are short. Some are thick, others are thin. Some are heavy. Others are light. Like the diverse women in your family. Those whose fables and metaphors, whose similes, and soliloquies, whose diction and je ne sais quoi daily slip into your survival soup, by way of their fingers. (epilogue)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edwidge Danticat", "slug": "edwidge-danticat", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edwidge-danticat" }, "book": { "title": "Krik? Krak!", "slug": "krik-krak", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edwidge-danticat/krik-krak" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "women", "slug": "women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "family", "slug": "family", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/family" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edwidge_Danticat#Krik%3F_Krak!_(1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:52" }, { "id": "f90758fa-9393-4166-ab06-5e437eefe67d", "slug": "of-all-human", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-j-harris/the-ghost/of-all-human", "text": "Of all human activities, writing is the one for which it is easiest to find excuses not to begin – the desk's too big, the desk's too small, there's too much noise, there's too much quiet, it's too hot, it's too cold, too early, too late. I had learned over the years to ignore them all and simply to start.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert J. Harris", "slug": "robert-j-harris", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-j-harris" }, "book": { "title": "The Ghost", "slug": "the-ghost", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-j-harris/the-ghost" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Harris_(novelist)#The_Ghost_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:26" }, { "id": "89db881d-90b3-4b25-9338-b0e7e642fba3", "slug": "a-book-unwritten", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-j-harris/the-ghost/a-book-unwritten", "text": "A book unwritten is a delightful universe of infinite possibilities. Set down one word, however, and immediately it becomes earthbound. Set down one sentence and its halfway to being just like every other bloody book that's ever been written. But the best must never be allowed to drive out the good. In the absence of genius there is always craftsmanship. One can at least try to write something that will arrest the readers' attention, that will encourage them, after reading the first paragraph, to take a look at the second, and then the third.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert J. Harris", "slug": "robert-j-harris", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-j-harris" }, "book": { "title": "The Ghost", "slug": "the-ghost", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-j-harris/the-ghost" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Harris_(novelist)#The_Ghost_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:26" }, { "id": "20dcaa2a-5406-4aeb-ac9e-b05cf0da575f", "slug": "chance-gives-rise", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal/pensees/chance-gives-rise", "text": "Chance gives rise to thoughts, and chance removes them; no art can keep or acquire them. A thought has escaped me. I wanted to write it down. I write instead, that it has escaped me.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Blaise Pascal", "slug": "blaise-pascal", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal" }, "book": { "title": "Pensees", "slug": "pensees", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal/pensees" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "thinking", "slug": "thinking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/thinking" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pens%C3%A9es#Section_VI:_The_Philosophers_(339-424)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:49" }, { "id": "7efad0f7-f269-4c5e-9763-545cea668699", "slug": "certain-authors-speaking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal/pensees/certain-authors-speaking", "text": "Certain authors, speaking of their works, say, \"My book,\" \"My commentary,\" \"My history,\" etc. They resemble middle-class people who have a house of their own, and always have \"My house\" on their tongue. They would do better to say, \"Our book,\" \"Our commentary,\" \"Our history,\" etc., because there is in them usually more of other people's than their own.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Blaise Pascal", "slug": "blaise-pascal", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal" }, "book": { "title": "Pensees", "slug": "pensees", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/blaise-pascal/pensees" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pens%C3%A9es#Section_I:_Thoughts_on_Mind_and_Style_(1-59)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:46" }, { "id": "e7015c44-05bd-4dc6-a3f3-e96c9d1cf46e", "slug": "with-just-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/patricia-reilly-giff/water-street/with-just-the", "text": "\"With just the sweep of a pen, Thomas, you can change the world, all of it.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Patricia Reilly Giff", "slug": "patricia-reilly-giff", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/patricia-reilly-giff" }, "book": { "title": "Water Street", "slug": "water-street", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/patricia-reilly-giff/water-street" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 3, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "words", "slug": "words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/words" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Patricia_Reilly_Giff#Prologue", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:26" }, { "id": "0ae936bc-b212-4bbd-b349-eff313600ea0", "slug": "what-was-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/patricia-reilly-giff/water-street/what-was-the", "text": "What was the use of writing if someone didn't read what you have to say?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Patricia Reilly Giff", "slug": "patricia-reilly-giff", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/patricia-reilly-giff" }, "book": { "title": "Water Street", "slug": "water-street", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/patricia-reilly-giff/water-street" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 134, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Patricia_Reilly_Giff#Chapters_21-29", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:26" }, { "id": "3c8d64aa-aa65-4088-891b-6e89e4cdcf21", "slug": "writing-is-easy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-sparks/three-weeks-with-my-brother/writing-is-easy", "text": "\"Writing is easy. It's just the typing that's hard.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nicholas Sparks", "slug": "nicholas-sparks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-sparks" }, "book": { "title": "Three Weeks With My Brother", "slug": "three-weeks-with-my-brother", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-sparks/three-weeks-with-my-brother" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 3, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicholas_Sparks#Three_Weeks_with_My_Brother_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:22" }, { "id": "09918d03-995a-4365-83f3-ccf0929460cb", "slug": "some-battles-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-storm-of-swords/some-battles-are", "text": "Some battles are won with swords and spears, others with quills and ravens.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Storm of Swords", "slug": "a-storm-of-swords", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-storm-of-swords" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Storm_of_Swords_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:49" }, { "id": "e4658e26-13be-4a2c-8ad8-ef150b3f6515", "slug": "it-is-in", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/cosmopolis/it-is-in", "text": "It is in me to hurt someone and I haven't always known this. The act and depth of writing will tell me if I'm capable.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Don DeLillo", "slug": "don-delillo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo" }, "book": { "title": "Cosmopolis", "slug": "cosmopolis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/cosmopolis" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cosmopolis_(novel)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:35" }, { "id": "d2ef6bcf-dc61-42b2-aa82-bf74fa32df62", "slug": "expressive-writing-encourages", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-cain/bittersweet/expressive-writing-encourages", "text": "\"Expressive writing\" encourages us to see our misfortunes not as flaws that make us unfit for worldly success (or otherworldly heaven), but as the seeds of our growth.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Susan Cain", "slug": "susan-cain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-cain" }, "book": { "title": "Bittersweet", "slug": "bittersweet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/susan-cain/bittersweet" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 151, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "personal growth", "slug": "personal-growth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/personal-growth" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Susan_Cain#Bittersweet", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:32" }, { "id": "54632fb8-9aeb-4e99-9c15-653a311aa1b7", "slug": "the-american-middle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/nonconformity/the-american-middle", "text": "The American middle class's faith in personal comfort as an end in itself is, in essence, a denial of life. And it has been imposed upon American writers and playwrights strongly enough to cut them off from their deeper sources. The shortcut to comfort is called “specialization,” and in an eye-ear-nose-and-throat doctor this makes sense. But in a writer it is fatal. The less he sees of other writers the more of a writer he will ultimately become. When he sees scarcely anyone except other writers, he is ready for New York.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nelson Algren", "slug": "nelson-algren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren" }, "book": { "title": "Nonconformity", "slug": "nonconformity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/nonconformity" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nelson_Algren#Nonconformity_(1953/1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:25" }, { "id": "2175f4fe-0394-4a7b-9a36-a884bd1e5444", "slug": "good-writers-indulge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-heehler/the-well-spoken-thesaurus/good-writers-indulge", "text": "Good writers indulge their audience; great writers know better.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tom Heehler", "slug": "tom-heehler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-heehler" }, "book": { "title": "The Well-Spoken Thesaurus", "slug": "the-well-spoken-thesaurus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-heehler/the-well-spoken-thesaurus" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Heehler#The_Well-Spoken_Thesaurus_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:04" }, { "id": "262d5b28-d591-4a03-b1a7-d8221b2d71e2", "slug": "in-dad-found", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ta-nehisi-coates/the-beautiful-struggle-a-memoir/in-dad-found", "text": "In , Dad found a literature of himself. He'd read and , but from Wright he learned that there was an entire shadow canon, a tradition of writers who grabbed the pen, not out of leisure but to break the chain.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ta-Nehisi Coates", "slug": "ta-nehisi-coates", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ta-nehisi-coates" }, "book": { "title": "The Beautiful Struggle: A Memoir", "slug": "the-beautiful-struggle-a-memoir", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ta-nehisi-coates/the-beautiful-struggle-a-memoir" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 72, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ta-Nehisi_Coates#The_Beautiful_Struggle:_A_Memoir_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:50" }, { "id": "1d3a9dff-6c38-4168-913f-cec41c8507e7", "slug": "it-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jeff-vandermeer/city-of-saints-and-madmen/it-is-the", "text": "It is the nature of the writer to question the validity of his world and yet rely on his senses to describe it. From what other tension can great literature be born?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jeff VanderMeer", "slug": "jeff-vandermeer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jeff-vandermeer" }, "book": { "title": "City of Saints and Madmen", "slug": "city-of-saints-and-madmen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jeff-vandermeer/city-of-saints-and-madmen" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 196, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jeff_VanderMeer#City_of_Saints_and_Madmen_(2001%E2%80%932004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:23" }, { "id": "fb14c61e-db90-479c-9bd2-b39afd3ea9a4", "slug": "as-jules-renard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme/flying-to-america/as-jules-renard", "text": "As Jules Renard said, no matter how much care an author takes to write as few books as possible, there will be people who haven’t heard of some of them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Donald Barthelme", "slug": "donald-barthelme", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme" }, "book": { "title": "Flying to America", "slug": "flying-to-america", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-barthelme/flying-to-america" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Donald_Barthelme#Flying_to_America:_45_More_Stories_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:08" }, { "id": "94360ddd-4fee-4997-80e0-40170e062fa9", "slug": "later-i-became", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ai-weiwei/ai-weiwei/later-i-became", "text": "Later I became very involved in writing. I really enjoyed that moment of writing. People would pass around my sentences. That was a feeling I never had before. It was like a bullet out of the gun.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ai Weiwei", "slug": "ai-weiwei", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ai-weiwei" }, "book": { "title": "Ai Weiwei", "slug": "ai-weiwei", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ai-weiwei/ai-weiwei" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ai_Weiwei#Ai_Weiwei:_The_Dissident,_2011", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:07" }, { "id": "6976050f-7a79-41fb-a9ca-e6c770e3b883", "slug": "words-on-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson/rhythm-of-war/words-on-the", "text": "Words on the page define men to future generations.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Brandon Sanderson", "slug": "brandon-sanderson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson" }, "book": { "title": "Rhythm of War", "slug": "rhythm-of-war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson/rhythm-of-war" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 27, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "words", "slug": "words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/words" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brandon_Sanderson#Rhythm_of_War_(2020)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:39" }, { "id": "3a93f492-311b-4b9d-9038-b3a1294b632d", "slug": "but-i-believe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/imre-kertesz/liquidation/but-i-believe", "text": "But I believe in writing — nothing else; just writing. Man may live like a worm, but he writes like a god. There was a time when that secret was known, but now it has been forgotten; the world is composed of disintegrating fragments, an incoherent dark chaos, sustained by writing alone. If you have a concept of the world, if you have not yet forgotten all that has happened, that you have a world at all, it is writing that has created that for you, and ceaselessly goes on creating it; Logos, the invisible spider’s thread that holds our lives together.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Imre Kertész", "slug": "imre-kertesz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/imre-kertesz" }, "book": { "title": "Liquidation", "slug": "liquidation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/imre-kertesz/liquidation" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "words", "slug": "words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/words" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Imre_Kert%C3%A9sz#Liquidation_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:30" }, { "id": "06dc189b-50f8-41e1-93b4-96e7a20e3de1", "slug": "writers-sometimes-cast", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/imre-kertesz/liquidation/writers-sometimes-cast", "text": "Writers sometimes cast themselves into the most profound depths of despair in order to master it and move on.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Imre Kertész", "slug": "imre-kertesz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/imre-kertesz" }, "book": { "title": "Liquidation", "slug": "liquidation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/imre-kertesz/liquidation" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "despair", "slug": "despair", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/despair" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Imre_Kert%C3%A9sz#Liquidation_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:30" }, { "id": "cb62a910-f259-4443-acbd-947826eb6f59", "slug": "suddenly-one-or-two", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/knut-hamsun/hunger/suddenly-one-or-two", "text": "Suddenly one or two good sentences occur to me, suitable for a sketch or story, nice linguistic flukes the likes of which I had never experienced before. I lie there repeating these words to myself and find that they are excellent. Presently they're joined by others, I'm at once wide awake, sit up and grab paper and pencil from the table behind my bed. It was as though a vein had burst inside me - one word follows another, they connect with one another and turn into situations; scenes pile on top of other scenes, actions and dialogue well up in my brain, and a wonderful sense of pleasure takes hold of me. I write as if possessed, filling one page after another without a moment's pause. My thoughts strike me so suddenly and continue to pour out so abundantly that I lose a lot of minor details I'm not able to write down fast enough, though I am working at full blast. They continue to crowd in on me, I am full of my subject, and every word I write is put in my mouth. It goes on and on, it takes such a wonderfully long time before this singular moment ceases to be; I have 15 to 20 written pages lying on my knees in front of me when I finally stop and put my pencil away. Now, if these pages were really worth something, then I was saved!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Knut Hamsun", "slug": "knut-hamsun", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/knut-hamsun" }, "book": { "title": "Hunger", "slug": "hunger", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/knut-hamsun/hunger" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 33, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "inspiration", "slug": "inspiration", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/inspiration" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Knut_Hamsun#Hunger_(1890)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:21" }, { "id": "bc3f9fb8-266f-42b8-be7d-c0c23ce40485", "slug": "none-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-b-white/charlottes-web/none-of-the", "text": "None of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "E. B. White", "slug": "e-b-white", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-b-white" }, "book": { "title": "Charlotte's Web", "slug": "charlottes-web", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/e-b-white/charlottes-web" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "friendship", "slug": "friendship", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/friendship" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charlotte's_Web_(book)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:20" }, { "id": "a04c51c6-eb6b-4355-af9b-47f49fa00662", "slug": "before-a-culture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang/exhalation/before-a-culture", "text": "Before a culture adopts the use of writing, when its knowledge is transmitted exclusively through oral means, it can very easily revise its history. It’s not intentional, but it is inevitable; throughout the world, bards and griots have adapted their material to their audiences and thus gradually adjusted the past to suit the needs of the present. The idea that accounts of the past shouldn’t change is a product of literate cultures’ reverence for the written word. Anthropologists will tell you that oral cultures understand the past differently; for them, their histories don’t need to be accurate so much as they need to validate the community’s understanding of itself. So it wouldn’t be correct to say that their histories are unreliable; their histories do what they need to do.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ted Chiang", "slug": "ted-chiang", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang" }, "book": { "title": "Exhalation", "slug": "exhalation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang/exhalation" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 226, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "history", "slug": "history", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "memory", "slug": "memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/memory" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ted_Chiang#Exhalation:_Stories_(2019)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:58" }, { "id": "17d57c4d-79a5-436c-a127-6876365bce85", "slug": "the-triumph-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/there-was-a-country/the-triumph-of-the", "text": "The triumph of the written word is often attained when the writer achieves union and trust with the reader, who then becomes ready to be drawn into unfamiliar territory, walking in borrowed literary shoes so to speak, toward a deeper understanding of self or society, or of foreign peoples, cultures, and situations.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chinua Achebe", "slug": "chinua-achebe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe" }, "book": { "title": "There Was a Country", "slug": "there-was-a-country", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/there-was-a-country" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chinua_Achebe#There_Was_a_Country:_A_Personal_History_of_Biafra_(2012)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:57" }, { "id": "33a0fa36-dbe6-4537-bb13-9462e019d81c", "slug": "for-much-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/the-confidence-man/for-much-the", "text": "For much the same reason that there is but one planet to one orbit, so can there be but one such original character to one work of invention.\n\nTwo would conflict to chaos. In this view, to say that there are more than one to a book, is good presumption there is none at all. But for new, singular, striking, odd, eccentric, and all sorts of entertaining and instructive characters, a good fiction may be full of them. To produce such characters, an author, beside other things, must have seen much, and seen through much: to produce but one original character, he must have had much luck.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Herman Melville", "slug": "herman-melville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville" }, "book": { "title": "The Confidence-Man", "slug": "the-confidence-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/the-confidence-man" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Confidence-Man#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:34" }, { "id": "4c9319ad-6e59-4693-ad45-3f8f238997e3", "slug": "a-science-fiction", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/in-alien-flesh/a-science-fiction", "text": "A science fiction writer is—or should be—constrained by what is, or logically might be. That can mean simple fidelity to facts (which, in science, are always more important than theories—though Lord knows the two help shape each other, undermining the convenient, complacent separation of observer and observed). To me it also means heeding the authentic, the actual and concrete. Bad fiction uses the glossy generality; good writing needs the smattering of detail, the unrelenting busy mystery of the real.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gregory Benford", "slug": "gregory-benford", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford" }, "book": { "title": "In Alien Flesh", "slug": "in-alien-flesh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/in-alien-flesh" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 246, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gregory_Benford#In_Alien_Flesh_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:21" }, { "id": "32c35026-8934-4822-83ba-fb926a557888", "slug": "as-to-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/puddnhead-wilson/as-to-the", "text": "As to the Adjective: when in doubt, strike it out.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mark Twain", "slug": "mark-twain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain" }, "book": { "title": "Pudd'nhead Wilson", "slug": "puddnhead-wilson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/puddnhead-wilson" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pudd'nhead_Wilson#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:19" }, { "id": "5a6b667e-0971-423d-971c-62d10f8bcc17", "slug": "writing-the-history", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-bury/the-ancient-greek-historians/writing-the-history", "text": "Writing the history of the present is always a very different thing from writing the history of the distant past. The history of the distant past depends entirely on literary and documentary sources; the history of the present always involves unwritten material as well as documents. But the difference was much greater in the days of Thucydides than it is now.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "J. Bury", "slug": "j-bury", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-bury" }, "book": { "title": "The Ancient Greek Historians", "slug": "the-ancient-greek-historians", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-bury/the-ancient-greek-historians" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 82, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "history", "slug": "history", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._B._Bury#The_Ancient_Greek_Historians_(1909)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:14" }, { "id": "08c621b4-846a-465b-9032-41be0463e518", "slug": "you-will-have", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sherwood-anderson/winesburg-ohio/you-will-have", "text": "\"You will have to know life,\" she declared, and her voice trembled with earnestness. She took hold of George Willard’s shoulders and turned him about so that she could look into his eyes. A passer-by might have thought them about to embrace. \"If you are to become a writer you’ll have to stop fooling with words,\" she explained. \"It would be better to give up the notion of writing until you are better prepared. Now it’s time to be living. I don’t want to frighten you, but I would like to make you understand the import of what you think of attempting. You must not become a mere peddler of words. The thing to learn is to know what people are thinking about, not what they say.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sherwood Anderson", "slug": "sherwood-anderson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sherwood-anderson" }, "book": { "title": "Winesburg, Ohio", "slug": "winesburg-ohio", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sherwood-anderson/winesburg-ohio" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sherwood_Anderson#Winesburg,_Ohio_(1919)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:13" }, { "id": "3b848962-60f2-4da5-bfc7-4b755d77d0a5", "slug": "i-saw-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anita-brookner/look-at-me/i-saw-the", "text": "I saw the business of writing for what it truly was and is to me. It is your penance for not being lucky. It is an attempt to reach others and to make them love you. It is your instinctive protest, when you find you have no voice at the world's tribunals, and that no one will speak for you. I would give my entire output of words, past, present, and to come, in exchange for easier access to the world, for permission to state \"I hurt\" or \"I hate\" or \"I want.\" Or, indeed, \"Look at me.\" And I do not go back on this. For once a thing is known it can never be unknown. It can only be forgotten. And writing is the enemy of forgetfulness, of thoughtlessness. For the writer there is no oblivion. Only endless memory.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anita Brookner", "slug": "anita-brookner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anita-brookner" }, "book": { "title": "Look At Me", "slug": "look-at-me", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anita-brookner/look-at-me" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "memory", "slug": "memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/memory" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anita_Brookner#Look_At_Me_(1983)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:58" }, { "id": "082831f8-d0fd-41f2-962d-cb81a15ba0ae", "slug": "then-it-happened", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-fante/brotherhood-of-the-grape/then-it-happened", "text": "Then it happened. One night as the rain beat on the slanted kitchen roof a great spirit slipped forever into my life. I held his books in my hands and trembled as he spoke to me of man and the world, of love and wisdom, pain and guilt, and I knew I would never be the same. His name was Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky. He knew more of fathers and sons than any man in the world, of brothers and sisters, priests and rogues, guilt and innocence. Dostoyevsky changed me. The Idiot, The Possessed, The Brothers Karamazov, The Gambler. He turned me inside out. I found I could breathe, could see invisible horizons. It was time to become a man, to leave San Elmo and go out into the world. I wanted to think and feel like Dostoyevsky. I wanted to write.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Fante", "slug": "john-fante", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-fante" }, "book": { "title": "Brotherhood Of The Grape", "slug": "brotherhood-of-the-grape", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-fante/brotherhood-of-the-grape" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 72, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Fante#The_Brotherhood_of_the_Grape_(1977)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:57" }, { "id": "3ba7e9ac-8454-4496-a84c-aba20152ebaf", "slug": "i-have-never", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-salter/burning-the-days/i-have-never", "text": "I have never been able to write the story. I reach a certain point and cannot go on. The death of kings can be recited, but not of one’s child.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James Salter", "slug": "james-salter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-salter" }, "book": { "title": "Burning the Days", "slug": "burning-the-days", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-salter/burning-the-days" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "death", "slug": "death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "children", "slug": "children", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children" }, { "name": "grief", "slug": "grief", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/grief" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Salter#Burning_the_Days_(1997_memoir)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:48" }, { "id": "1efc27d8-5ee7-49df-9e82-28e6f85596df", "slug": "lunatics-are-writers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-mitchell/ghostwritten/lunatics-are-writers", "text": "Lunatics are writers whose works write them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Mitchell", "slug": "david-mitchell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-mitchell" }, "book": { "title": "Ghostwritten", "slug": "ghostwritten", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-mitchell/ghostwritten" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "madness", "slug": "madness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/madness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Mitchell_(author)#Ghostwritten_(1999)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:48" }, { "id": "48cc2fdd-61f6-4751-8e08-0e088234db81", "slug": "anyway-i-find-what", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ken-macleod/learning-the-world/anyway-i-find-what", "text": "“Anyway...I find what you write interesting.”\n\n“That’s what people usually say when they disagree with it.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ken MacLeod", "slug": "ken-macleod", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ken-macleod" }, "book": { "title": "Learning The World", "slug": "learning-the-world", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ken-macleod/learning-the-world" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 110, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ken_MacLeod#Learning_the_World_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:47" }, { "id": "e7b4dfe0-235d-4296-bd4c-c13d0507db90", "slug": "theres-a-curious", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/mao-ii/theres-a-curious", "text": "\"There's a curious knot that binds novelists and terrorists...Years ago I used to think it was possible for a novelist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory. They make raids on human consciousness. What writers used to do before we were all incorporated.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Don DeLillo", "slug": "don-delillo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo" }, "book": { "title": "Mao II", "slug": "mao-ii", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/mao-ii" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "culture", "slug": "culture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/culture" }, { "name": "terrorism", "slug": "terrorism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/terrorism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Don_DeLillo#Mao_II_(1991)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:32" }, { "id": "9f1a283b-52b7-42e5-ab68-aea6bd041a7e", "slug": "when-a-writer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/mao-ii/when-a-writer", "text": "When a writer doesn't show his face, he becomes a local symptom of God's famous reluctance to appear.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Don DeLillo", "slug": "don-delillo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo" }, "book": { "title": "Mao II", "slug": "mao-ii", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/mao-ii" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Don_DeLillo#Mao_II_(1991)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:32" }, { "id": "6ccbb330-d78b-48b0-ace8-62b678d074fd", "slug": "the-art-of-biography", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lytton-strachey/eminent-victorians/the-art-of-biography", "text": "The art of biography seems to have fallen on evil times in England. … With us, the most delicate and humane of all the branches of the art of writing has been relegated to the journeymen of letters; we do not reflect that it is perhaps as difficult to write a good life as to live one.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lytton Strachey", "slug": "lytton-strachey", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lytton-strachey" }, "book": { "title": "Eminent Victorians", "slug": "eminent-victorians", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lytton-strachey/eminent-victorians" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lytton_Strachey#Eminent_Victorians_(1918)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:32" }, { "id": "65b07e8f-d646-4596-a27b-a8b9f55878d5", "slug": "if-i-were", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/the-names/if-i-were", "text": "If I were a writer, how I would enjoy being told the novel is dead. How liberating to work in the margins, outside a central perception. You are the ghoul of literature. Lovely.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Don DeLillo", "slug": "don-delillo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo" }, "book": { "title": "The Names", "slug": "the-names", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/the-names" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Don_DeLillo#The_Names_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:32" }, { "id": "50343917-a00e-4eca-aab0-0e4af1b8aef4", "slug": "it-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lytton-strachey/eminent-victorians/it-is-not", "text": "It is not [the biographer's] business to be complimentary; it is his business to lay bare the facts of the case, as he understands them...dispassionately, impartially, and without ulterior motives.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lytton Strachey", "slug": "lytton-strachey", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lytton-strachey" }, "book": { "title": "Eminent Victorians", "slug": "eminent-victorians", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lytton-strachey/eminent-victorians" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lytton_Strachey#Eminent_Victorians_(1918)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:32" }, { "id": "18385e5f-daa1-40a0-86b3-816d33f99d7f", "slug": "in-this-century", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/the-names/in-this-century", "text": "In this century the writer has carried on a conversation with madness. We might almost say of the twentieth-century writer that he aspires to madness. Some have made it, of course, and they hold special places in our regard. To a writer, madness is a final distillation of self, a final editing down. It's the drowning out of false voices.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Don DeLillo", "slug": "don-delillo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo" }, "book": { "title": "The Names", "slug": "the-names", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/the-names" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "madness", "slug": "madness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/madness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Don_DeLillo#The_Names_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:32" }, { "id": "85921bce-31fc-4850-881a-0fa7b2daeb0a", "slug": "the-writer-must", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lionel-trilling/the-liberal-imagination/the-writer-must", "text": "The writer must define his audience by its abilities, by its perfections, so far as he is gifted to conceive them. He does well, if he cannot see his right audience within immediate reach of his voice, to direct his words to his spiritual ancestors, or to posterity, or even, if need be, to a coterie. The writer serves his daemon and his subject. And the democracy that does not know that the daemon and the subject must be served is not, in any ideal sense of the word, a democracy at all.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Lionel Trilling", "slug": "lionel-trilling", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lionel-trilling" }, "book": { "title": "The Liberal Imagination", "slug": "the-liberal-imagination", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/lionel-trilling/the-liberal-imagination" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "democracy", "slug": "democracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/democracy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lionel_Trilling#The_Liberal_Imagination_(1950)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:29" }, { "id": "dd89f913-fd22-472b-8baf-7a54f012e311", "slug": "such-humble-talents", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte/the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall/such-humble-talents", "text": "Such humble talents as God had given me I will endeavour to put to their greatest use; if I am able to amuse I will try to benefit too; and when I feel it my duty to speak an unpalatable truth, with the help of God, I will speak it, though it be to the prejudice of my name and to the detriment of my readers immediate pleasure as well as my own.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anne Brontë", "slug": "anne-bronte", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte" }, "book": { "title": "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall", "slug": "the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte/the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "talent", "slug": "talent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/talent" }, { "name": "duty", "slug": "duty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/duty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Bront%C3%AB#The_Tenant_of_Wildfell_Hall_(1848)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:27" }, { "id": "13e3ad88-aade-433a-8bdf-4e07bdc2a9e1", "slug": "this-paper-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte/the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall/this-paper-will", "text": "This paper will serve instead of a confidential friend into whose ear I might pour forth the overflowings of my heart. It will not sympathise with my distresses, but then it will not laugh at them, and, if I keep it close, it cannot tell again; so it is, perhaps, the best friend I could have for the purpose.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anne Brontë", "slug": "anne-bronte", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte" }, "book": { "title": "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall", "slug": "the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-bronte/the-tenant-of-wildfell-hall" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "friendship", "slug": "friendship", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/friendship" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Bront%C3%AB#The_Tenant_of_Wildfell_Hall_(1848)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:27" }, { "id": "ca120310-9c97-4540-80db-573103baa7b0", "slug": "discipline-and-abstraction", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-david-roberts/shantaram/discipline-and-abstraction", "text": "Discipline and abstraction of putting my life into words, every day, helped me to cope with shame and its first cousin, despair. - Lin", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gregory David Roberts", "slug": "gregory-david-roberts", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-david-roberts" }, "book": { "title": "Shantaram", "slug": "shantaram", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-david-roberts/shantaram" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "despair", "slug": "despair", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/despair" }, { "name": "shame", "slug": "shame", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/shame" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Shantaram#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:21" }, { "id": "cb41f121-289f-4e16-93fa-44064978eca6", "slug": "even-after-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicole-krauss/the-history-of-love/even-after-the", "text": "Even after the only person whose opinion I cared about left on a boat for America, I continued to fill pages with her name.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nicole Krauss", "slug": "nicole-krauss", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicole-krauss" }, "book": { "title": "The History of Love", "slug": "the-history-of-love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicole-krauss/the-history-of-love" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 8, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicole_Krauss#The_History_of_Love_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:18" }, { "id": "667245e3-1b05-4509-862a-67ce4aa6982c", "slug": "these-things-were", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicole-krauss/the-history-of-love/these-things-were", "text": "These things were lost to oblivion like so much about so many who are born and die without anyone ever taking the time to write it all down.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nicole Krauss", "slug": "nicole-krauss", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicole-krauss" }, "book": { "title": "The History of Love", "slug": "the-history-of-love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicole-krauss/the-history-of-love" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 70, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "memory", "slug": "memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/memory" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicole_Krauss#The_History_of_Love_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:18" }, { "id": "1a731602-2d6c-404a-a073-07d9153e67fc", "slug": "when-i-got", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicole-krauss/the-history-of-love/when-i-got", "text": "When I got older I decided I wanted to be a real writer. I tried to write about real things. I wanted to describe the world, because to live in an undescribed world was too lonely.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nicole Krauss", "slug": "nicole-krauss", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicole-krauss" }, "book": { "title": "The History of Love", "slug": "the-history-of-love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicole-krauss/the-history-of-love" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 7, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicole_Krauss#The_History_of_Love_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:18" }, { "id": "d5341b41-983f-4ef8-90d7-3ad9a7a832a5", "slug": "how-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde/first-among-sequels/how-is-the", "text": "“How is the book going?” I asked returning to my knitting.\n\n“The self-help stuff?”\n\n“The magnum opus.”\n\nLanden looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, “More opus than magnum. I’m trying to figure out whether the lack of progress is writer’s block, procrastination, idleness or just plain incompetence.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jasper Fforde", "slug": "jasper-fforde", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde" }, "book": { "title": "First Among Sequels", "slug": "first-among-sequels", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde/first-among-sequels" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 8, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jasper_Fforde#First_Among_Sequels_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:00" }, { "id": "81957ce4-0118-4f04-82f5-54e8a2615710", "slug": "what-is-exaggeration", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/martin-chuzzlewit/what-is-exaggeration", "text": "What is exaggeration to one class of minds and perceptions, is plain truth to another. That which is commonly called a long–sight, perceives in a prospect innumerable features and bearings non–existent to a short–sighted person. I sometimes ask myself whether there may occasionally be a difference of this kind between some writers and some readers; whether it is ALWAYS the writer who colours highly, or whether it is now and then the reader whose eye for colour is a little dull?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "Martin Chuzzlewit", "slug": "martin-chuzzlewit", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/martin-chuzzlewit" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Chuzzlewit#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:43" }, { "id": "45453284-fb17-4c3e-b89d-e8a11cd5e046", "slug": "i-have-stolen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3/i-have-stolen", "text": "I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read. My principle in researching a novel is 'Read like a butterfly, write like a bee', and if this story contains any honey, it is entirely because of the quality of the nectar I found in the work of better writers.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip Pullman", "slug": "philip-pullman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman" }, "book": { "title": "The Amber Spyglass: His Dark Materials 3", "slug": "the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-amber-spyglass-his-dark-materials-3" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 549, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Pullman#The_Amber_Spyglass_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:38" }, { "id": "3189d1f5-234d-4d24-8702-3a34bac5a3b3", "slug": "when-you-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/geoff-dyer/yoga-for-people-who-cant-be-bothered-to-do-it/when-you-are", "text": "When you are lonely, writing can keep you company. It is a form of self-compensation, a way of making up for things—as opposed to making things up—that did not quite happen. (p.11).", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Geoff Dyer", "slug": "geoff-dyer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/geoff-dyer" }, "book": { "title": "Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It", "slug": "yoga-for-people-who-cant-be-bothered-to-do-it", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/geoff-dyer/yoga-for-people-who-cant-be-bothered-to-do-it" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Geoff_Dyer#Yoga_For_People_Who_Can't_Be_Bothered_To_Do_It_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:29" }, { "id": "1ffd0b50-1994-4c56-a272-a8169db93679", "slug": "you-may-well", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ford-madox-ford/the-good-soldier/you-may-well", "text": "You may well ask why I write. And yet my reasons are quite many. For it is not unusual in human beings who have witnessed the sack of a city or the falling to pieces of a people to set down what they have witnessed for the benefit of unknown heirs or of generations infinitely remote; or, if you please, just to get the sight out of their heads.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ford Madox Ford", "slug": "ford-madox-ford", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ford-madox-ford" }, "book": { "title": "The Good Soldier", "slug": "the-good-soldier", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ford-madox-ford/the-good-soldier" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 5, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ford_Madox_Ford#The_Good_Soldier_(1915)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:12" }, { "id": "441290d3-347e-4cc8-a64e-fdb1da0c7b62", "slug": "i-have-advice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle/penguins-and-golden-calves/i-have-advice", "text": "I have advice for people who want to write. I don't care whether they're 5 or 500. There are three things that are important: First, if you want to write, you need to keep an honest, unpublishable journal that nobody reads, nobody but you. Where you just put down what you think about life, what you think about things, what you think is fair and what you think is unfair. And second, you need to read. You can't be a writer if you're not a reader. It's the great writers who teach us how to write. The third thing is to write. Just write a little bit every day. Even if it's for only half an hour — write, write, write.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Madeleine L’Engle", "slug": "madeleine-lengle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle" }, "book": { "title": "Penguins and Golden Calves", "slug": "penguins-and-golden-calves", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle/penguins-and-golden-calves" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Madeleine_L'Engle#Penguins_and_Golden_Calves_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:10" }, { "id": "9ff1658c-2c07-444e-a654-b2caf05cc519", "slug": "i-wrote-because", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle/penguins-and-golden-calves/i-wrote-because", "text": "I wrote because I wanted to know what everything was about. My father, before I was born, had been gassed in the first World War, and I wanted to know why there were wars, why people hurt each other, why we couldn't get along together, and what made people tick. That's why I started to write stories.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Madeleine L’Engle", "slug": "madeleine-lengle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle" }, "book": { "title": "Penguins and Golden Calves", "slug": "penguins-and-golden-calves", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle/penguins-and-golden-calves" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "curiosity", "slug": "curiosity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/curiosity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Madeleine_L'Engle#Penguins_and_Golden_Calves_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:09" }, { "id": "931e67d3-50bf-4157-b76f-3c504ec78fc6", "slug": "the-truth-of-a-story", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle/the-rock-that-is-higher/the-truth-of-a-story", "text": "The truth of a story is what the novelist strives for, and quite often the writer is taken down strange and unexpected paths on this search.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Madeleine L’Engle", "slug": "madeleine-lengle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle" }, "book": { "title": "The Rock That Is Higher", "slug": "the-rock-that-is-higher", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle/the-rock-that-is-higher" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Madeleine_L'Engle#The_Rock_that_Is_Higher_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:09" }, { "id": "1811d8db-63db-4944-a935-830cbe39858b", "slug": "youre-given-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle/a-wrinkle-in-time/youre-given-the", "text": "You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Madeleine L’Engle", "slug": "madeleine-lengle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle" }, "book": { "title": "A Wrinkle in Time", "slug": "a-wrinkle-in-time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/madeleine-lengle/a-wrinkle-in-time" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "free will", "slug": "free-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Madeleine_L'Engle#A_Wrinkle_in_Time_(1962)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:08" }, { "id": "7306f77f-013a-46b4-9c1c-00fff51ec881", "slug": "why-my-mothers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/hunger-of-memory/why-my-mothers", "text": "‘Why?’ My mother’s question hangs in the still air of memory. The loneliness I have felt many mornings, however, has not made me forget that I am engaged in a highly public activity. I sit here in silence writing this small volume of words, and it seems to me the most public thing I ever have done. My mother’s letter has served to remind me: I am making my personal life public. Probably I will never try to explain my motives to my mother and father. My mother’s question will go unanswered to her face.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Rodriguez", "slug": "richard-rodriguez", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez" }, "book": { "title": "Hunger of Memory", "slug": "hunger-of-memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/hunger-of-memory" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Rodriguez#Hunger_of_Memory:_The_Education_of_Richard_Rodriguez_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:46" }, { "id": "109feec9-59b9-48a0-8d6a-0402658ff99c", "slug": "somehow-the-inclination", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/hunger-of-memory/somehow-the-inclination", "text": "Somehow the inclination to write about my private life in public is related to the ability to do so. It is not enough to say that my mother and father do not want to write their autobiographies. It needs also to be said that they are unable to write to a public reader. They lack the skill. Though both of them can write in Spanish and English, they write in a hesitant manner. Their syntax is uncertain. Their vocabulary limited. The man who sits in his chair so many hours, and the woman at the ironing board—‘keeping busy because I don’t want to get old’—will never be able to believe that any description of their personal lives could be understood by a stranger far from home.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Rodriguez", "slug": "richard-rodriguez", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez" }, "book": { "title": "Hunger of Memory", "slug": "hunger-of-memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/hunger-of-memory" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "privacy", "slug": "privacy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/privacy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Rodriguez#Hunger_of_Memory:_The_Education_of_Richard_Rodriguez_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:46" }, { "id": "09ac5d1f-def1-4cf3-8cb7-5d6f155c2d82", "slug": "i-write-about", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/brown/i-write-about", "text": "I write about race in America in hopes of undermining the notion of race in America.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Rodriguez", "slug": "richard-rodriguez", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez" }, "book": { "title": "Brown", "slug": "brown", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/brown" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "racism", "slug": "racism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/racism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Rodriguez#Brown_:_The_Last_Discovery_of_America_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:46" }, { "id": "ccf22805-fe12-4fc7-ac28-ef3593976ef9", "slug": "novelists-should-never", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte/the-professor/novelists-should-never", "text": "Novelists should never allow themselves to weary of the study of real life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charlotte Brontë", "slug": "charlotte-bronte", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte" }, "book": { "title": "The Professor", "slug": "the-professor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte/the-professor" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charlotte_Bront%C3%AB#The_Professor_(1857)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:43" }, { "id": "55ebb9d5-a7e7-4b6c-8086-6e0eb3f5f13b", "slug": "i-describe-imperfect", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte/shirley/i-describe-imperfect", "text": "I describe imperfect characters. Every character in this book will be found to be more or less imperfect, my pen refusing to draw anything in the model line.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charlotte Brontë", "slug": "charlotte-bronte", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte" }, "book": { "title": "Shirley", "slug": "shirley", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte/shirley" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charlotte_Bront%C3%AB#Shirley_(1849)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:42" }, { "id": "f3f7a405-50d6-40d1-94aa-e36817c2cb8f", "slug": "life-is-boring", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-frisch/montauk/life-is-boring", "text": "Life is boring. I have experiences now only when I am writing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Max Frisch", "slug": "max-frisch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-frisch" }, "book": { "title": "Montauk", "slug": "montauk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-frisch/montauk" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "boredom", "slug": "boredom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/boredom" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Frisch#Montauk_(1975)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:34" }, { "id": "c6a20bba-079d-4e26-9abd-a6b43652704f", "slug": "the-possibility-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jose-saramago/the-stone-raft/the-possibility-of-the", "text": "The possibility of the impossible, dreams and illusions, are the subject of my novels.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "José Saramago", "slug": "jose-saramago", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jose-saramago" }, "book": { "title": "The Stone Raft", "slug": "the-stone-raft", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jose-saramago/the-stone-raft" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "dreams and aspirations", "slug": "dreams-and-aspirations", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dreams-and-aspirations" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Saramago#The_Stone_Raft_(1994)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:12" }, { "id": "a9947f1f-9dd0-420c-a0c7-0e42a5bd2987", "slug": "perhaps-it-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jose-saramago/the-year-of-the-death-of-ricardo-reis/perhaps-it-is-the", "text": "Perhaps it is the language that chooses the writers it needs, making use of them so that each might express a tiny part of what it is.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "José Saramago", "slug": "jose-saramago", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jose-saramago" }, "book": { "title": "The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis", "slug": "the-year-of-the-death-of-ricardo-reis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jose-saramago/the-year-of-the-death-of-ricardo-reis" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 47, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "language", "slug": "language", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Saramago#The_Year_of_the_Death_of_Ricardo_Reis_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:12" }, { "id": "beb6aa78-6cb6-4380-affd-5b9c24e156f8", "slug": "do-not-be-too", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-donaldson/the-power-that-preserves/do-not-be-too", "text": "Do not be too quick to judge the makers of worlds. Will you ever write a story for which no character will have caused to reproach you?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen Donaldson", "slug": "stephen-donaldson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-donaldson" }, "book": { "title": "The Power That Preserves", "slug": "the-power-that-preserves", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-donaldson/the-power-that-preserves" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 473, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "judging others", "slug": "judging-others", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/judging-others" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_R._Donaldson#The_Power_that_Preserves_(1977)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:05" }, { "id": "4cd2be28-f9dc-4195-83de-6995b2478dc9", "slug": "but-at-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/how-few-remain/but-at-the", "text": "But, at the moment, the urge to write was not upon him. He shook his head and grimaced wryly. As a veteran newspaper man, he knew you wrote when you had to write, not when the Muse sprinkled fairy dust in your hair and tapped you with a magic wand.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Harry Turtledove", "slug": "harry-turtledove", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove" }, "book": { "title": "How Few Remain", "slug": "how-few-remain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/how-few-remain" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 157, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "inspiration", "slug": "inspiration", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/inspiration" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Turtledove#How_Few_Remain_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:47" }, { "id": "f1d29c3c-99ff-4134-a29b-9d92d4b58faa", "slug": "writing-freezes-speech", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-postman/amusing-ourselves-to-death/writing-freezes-speech", "text": "Writing freezes speech and in so doing gives birth to the grammarian, the logician, the rhetorician, the historian, the scientist -- all those who must hold language before them so that they can see what it means, where it errs, and where it is leading.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neil Postman", "slug": "neil-postman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-postman" }, "book": { "title": "Amusing Ourselves to Death", "slug": "amusing-ourselves-to-death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-postman/amusing-ourselves-to-death" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 12, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "language", "slug": "language", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Neil_Postman#Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death:_Public_Discourse_in_the_Age_of_Show_Business_(1985)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:39" }, { "id": "7a35572d-eddf-490a-a604-185c722b4355", "slug": "in-fine-i-have", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thucydides/history-of-the-peloponnesian-war/in-fine-i-have", "text": "In fine, I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thucydides", "slug": "thucydides", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thucydides" }, "book": { "title": "History of the Peloponnesian War", "slug": "history-of-the-peloponnesian-war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thucydides/history-of-the-peloponnesian-war" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "history", "slug": "history", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thucydides#Book_I", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:35" }, { "id": "cc812ba2-d4d0-48c5-98c3-a2a6ea399544", "slug": "she-no-longer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/elizabeth-costello/she-no-longer", "text": "She no longer believes very strongly in belief... Belief may be no more, in the end, than a source of energy, like a battery which one clips into an idea to make it run. As happens when one writes: believing whatever has to be believed in order to get the job done.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "J. M. Coetzee", "slug": "j-m-coetzee", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee" }, "book": { "title": "Elizabeth Costello", "slug": "elizabeth-costello", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/elizabeth-costello" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "faith", "slug": "faith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/faith" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._M._Coetzee#Elizabeth_Costello_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:32" }, { "id": "e2313dde-d85f-45fb-a06f-1ac52ddd3c57", "slug": "i-would-rather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/foe/i-would-rather", "text": "I would rather be the author of my story than have lies told about me.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "J. M. Coetzee", "slug": "j-m-coetzee", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee" }, "book": { "title": "Foe", "slug": "foe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/foe" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "identity", "slug": "identity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/identity" }, { "name": "lies", "slug": "lies", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/lies" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._M._Coetzee#Foe_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:30" }, { "id": "08e6f31e-0c78-49e1-9e3b-a290f79f26c1", "slug": "to-tell-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/foe/to-tell-the", "text": "To tell the truth in all its substance you must have quiet and a comfortable chair away from all distraction, and a window to stare through and then the knack of seeing waves when there are fields before your eyes…", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "J. M. Coetzee", "slug": "j-m-coetzee", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee" }, "book": { "title": "Foe", "slug": "foe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/foe" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 52, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._M._Coetzee#Foe_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:30" }, { "id": "1e34435f-f23a-4e43-ad41-634705193d67", "slug": "i-am-a-great", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-conrad/lord-jim/i-am-a-great", "text": "I am a great foe of favoritism in public life, in private life, and even in the delicate relationship of an author to his works.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Conrad", "slug": "joseph-conrad", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-conrad" }, "book": { "title": "Lord Jim", "slug": "lord-jim", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-conrad/lord-jim" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lord_Jim#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:16" }, { "id": "fe8ef250-12cf-45f3-869c-108a3c66a8dd", "slug": "so-far-as-i-could", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-baker/growing-up/so-far-as-i-could", "text": "​So far as I could make out, what writers did couldn't even be classified as work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Russell Baker", "slug": "russell-baker", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-baker" }, "book": { "title": "Growing Up", "slug": "growing-up", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-baker/growing-up" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 26, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Russell_Baker#Growing_Up_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:15" }, { "id": "0ff1dc43-7e60-4b0a-95f6-c62715e980ea", "slug": "sometimes-i-write", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/octavia-e-butler/parable-of-the-sower/sometimes-i-write", "text": "Sometimes I write to keep from going crazy. There’s a world of things I don’t feel free to talk to anyone about.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Octavia E. Butler", "slug": "octavia-e-butler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/octavia-e-butler" }, "book": { "title": "Parable of the Sower", "slug": "parable-of-the-sower", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/octavia-e-butler/parable-of-the-sower" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 52, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "madness", "slug": "madness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/madness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Octavia_Butler#Parable_of_the_Sower_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:10" }, { "id": "30a5d78c-a44f-4414-83f2-91dc55539ed9", "slug": "writing-when-properly", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/laurence-sterne/the-life-and-opinions-of-tristram-shandy-gentleman/writing-when-properly", "text": "Writing, when properly managed, (as you may be sure I think mine is) is but a different name for conversation.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Laurence Sterne", "slug": "laurence-sterne", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/laurence-sterne" }, "book": { "title": "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman", "slug": "the-life-and-opinions-of-tristram-shandy-gentleman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/laurence-sterne/the-life-and-opinions-of-tristram-shandy-gentleman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "conversation", "slug": "conversation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conversation" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Laurence_Sterne#The_Life_and_Opinions_of_Tristram_Shandy,_Gentleman_(1760-1767)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:07" }, { "id": "e752fe71-a8cf-4d27-b792-70af77f2e497", "slug": "the-official-style", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves/the-reader-over-your-shoulder/the-official-style", "text": "The official style is at once humble, polite, curt and disagreeable: it derives partly from that used in Byzantine times by the eunuch slave-secretariat, writing stiffly in the name of His Sacred Majesty, whose confidence they enjoyed, to their fellow-slaves outside the palace precincts — for the Emperor had summary power over everyone; and partly from the style used by the cleric-bureaucracy of the Middle Ages, writing stiffly in the name of the feudal lords to their serfs and, though cautious of offending their employers, protected from injury by being servants of the Church, not of the Crown, and so subject to canon, not feudal, law. The official style of civil servants, so far as it recalls its Byzantine derivation, is written by slaves to fellow-slaves of a fictitious tyrant; and, so far as it recalls its mediaeval derivation, is written by members of a quasi-ecclesiastical body, on behalf of quasi-feudal ministers (who, being politicians, come under a different code of behaviour from theirs) to a serflike public.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert Graves", "slug": "robert-graves", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves" }, "book": { "title": "The Reader Over Your Shoulder", "slug": "the-reader-over-your-shoulder", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves/the-reader-over-your-shoulder" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "history", "slug": "history", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "bureaucracy", "slug": "bureaucracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/bureaucracy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Graves#The_Reader_Over_Your_Shoulder_(1943)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:05" }, { "id": "894e0c9a-1430-47ad-9f04-902be636c800", "slug": "the-chief-trouble", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves/the-reader-over-your-shoulder/the-chief-trouble", "text": "The chief trouble with the official style is that it spreads far beyond the formal contexts to which it is suited. Most civil servants, having learned to write in this way, cannot throw off the habit. The obscurity of their public announcements largely accounts for the disrepute into which Departmental activities have fallen: for the public naturally supposes that Departments are as muddled and stodgy as their announcements.\n\nThe habit of obscurity is partly caused by a settled disinclination among public servants to give a definite refusal even where assent is out of the question; or to convey a vigorous rebuke even where, in private correspondence, any person with self-respect would feel bound to do so. The mood is conveyed by a polite and emasculated style — polite because, when writing to a member of the public, the public servant is, in theory at least, addressing one of his collective employers; emasculated because, as a cog in the Government machine, he must make his phrases look as mechanical as possible by stripping them of all personal feeling and opinion.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert Graves", "slug": "robert-graves", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves" }, "book": { "title": "The Reader Over Your Shoulder", "slug": "the-reader-over-your-shoulder", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves/the-reader-over-your-shoulder" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "language", "slug": "language", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language" }, { "name": "bureaucracy", "slug": "bureaucracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/bureaucracy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Graves#The_Reader_Over_Your_Shoulder_(1943)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:05" }, { "id": "57410dd0-8e8d-4f1e-bd11-af3560296bb9", "slug": "faults-in-english", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves/the-reader-over-your-shoulder/faults-in-english", "text": "Faults in English prose derive not so much from lack of knowledge, intelligence or art as from lack of thought, patience or goodwill.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert Graves", "slug": "robert-graves", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves" }, "book": { "title": "The Reader Over Your Shoulder", "slug": "the-reader-over-your-shoulder", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves/the-reader-over-your-shoulder" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Graves#The_Reader_Over_Your_Shoulder_(1943)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:05" }, { "id": "08365aa1-f8ab-40b6-882c-0f843dd712fd", "slug": "where-is-good", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves/the-reader-over-your-shoulder/where-is-good", "text": "Where is good English to be found? Not among those who might be expected to write well professionally. Schoolmasters seldom write well: it is difficult for any teacher to avoid either pomposity or, in the effort not to be pompous, a jocular conversational looseness. The clergy suffer from much the same occupational disability: they can seldom decide whether to use \"the language of the market-place\" or Biblical rhetoric. Men of letters usually feel impelled to cultivate an individual style — less because they feel sure of themselves as individuals than because they wish to carve a niche for themselves in literature; and nowadays an individual style usually means merely a peculiar range of inaccuracies, ambiguities, logical weaknesses and stylistic extravagancies. Trained journalists use a flat, over-simplified style, based on a study of what sells a paper and what does not, which is inadequate for most literary purposes.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert Graves", "slug": "robert-graves", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves" }, "book": { "title": "The Reader Over Your Shoulder", "slug": "the-reader-over-your-shoulder", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-graves/the-reader-over-your-shoulder" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literary style", "slug": "literary-style", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literary-style" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Graves#The_Reader_Over_Your_Shoulder_(1943)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:05" }, { "id": "af7bf1d9-f3f1-4fa1-b0cf-f703e9b18582", "slug": "it-is-dangerous", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-brin/glory-season/it-is-dangerous", "text": "It is dangerous these days for a male to write even glancingly on feminist themes. Did anyone attack Margaret Atwood’s right to extrapolate religio-machismo in The Handmaid’s Tale? Women writers appear vouchsafed insight into the souls of men—credit that seldom flows the other way. It is a sexist and offensive assumption, which does not advance understanding.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Brin", "slug": "david-brin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-brin" }, "book": { "title": "Glory Season", "slug": "glory-season", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-brin/glory-season" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 561, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "feminism", "slug": "feminism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/feminism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Brin#Glory_Season_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:45" }, { "id": "71ff6950-3e10-4d59-b866-0f9acfdef4f8", "slug": "there-is-a-similarity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-robbins/still-life-with-woodpecker/there-is-a-similarity", "text": "There is a similarity between juggling and composing on the typewriter. The trick is, when you spill something, make it look like a part of the act.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tom Robbins", "slug": "tom-robbins", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-robbins" }, "book": { "title": "Still Life with Woodpecker", "slug": "still-life-with-woodpecker", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-robbins/still-life-with-woodpecker" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "mistakes", "slug": "mistakes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mistakes" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Robbins#Still_Life_with_Woodpecker_(1980)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:37" }, { "id": "60b24921-1d09-42f8-925a-3819c7c296a2", "slug": "someone-watches-over", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/martin-amis/london-fields/someone-watches-over", "text": "Someone watches over us when we write. Mother. Teacher. Shakespeare. God.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Martin Amis", "slug": "martin-amis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/martin-amis" }, "book": { "title": "London Fields", "slug": "london-fields", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/martin-amis/london-fields" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 397, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Amis#London_Fields_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:13" }, { "id": "90a04731-0f1e-4d75-813d-2f9cb98a2b64", "slug": "i-think-it-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/martin-amis/london-fields/i-think-it-was", "text": "I think it was Montherlant who said that happiness writes white: it doesn't show up on the page.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Martin Amis", "slug": "martin-amis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/martin-amis" }, "book": { "title": "London Fields", "slug": "london-fields", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/martin-amis/london-fields" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "happiness", "slug": "happiness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Amis#London_Fields_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:12" }, { "id": "6de46d6a-1611-46a0-ab2f-40b419b4216e", "slug": "the-pen-is-mightier", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/the-light-fantastic/the-pen-is-mightier", "text": "The pen is mightier than the sword ... if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Terry Pratchett", "slug": "terry-pratchett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett" }, "book": { "title": "The Light Fantastic", "slug": "the-light-fantastic", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/the-light-fantastic" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Light_Fantastic#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:51" }, { "id": "d053b87c-8ca1-4175-9a88-c87edab2d6bd", "slug": "all-i-can", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/clive-james/may-week-was-in-june/all-i-can", "text": "All I can do is turn a phrase until it catches the light. There was a time when I got hot under the collar if the critics said I had nothing new to say. Now I realise that they had a point. My field is the self-evident. Everything I say is obvious, although I like to think that some of the obvious things I have said were not so obvious until I said them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Clive James", "slug": "clive-james", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/clive-james" }, "book": { "title": "May Week Was In June", "slug": "may-week-was-in-june", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/clive-james/may-week-was-in-june" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 241, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literary style", "slug": "literary-style", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literary-style" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clive_James#May_Week_Was_in_June_(1990)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:48" }, { "id": "9888d5af-a0da-4368-a861-22a9e18f55d5", "slug": "as-far-as-i-have", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/northanger-abbey/as-far-as-i-have", "text": "“As far as I have had opportunity of judging, it appears to be that the usual style of letter-writing among women is faultless, except in three particulars.”\n\n“And what are they?”\n\n“A general deficiency of subject, a total inattention to stops, and a very frequent ignorance of grammar.” p. 52, 2013", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jane Austen", "slug": "jane-austen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen" }, "book": { "title": "Northanger Abbey", "slug": "northanger-abbey", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/northanger-abbey" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Northanger_Abbey#Chapter_3", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:43" }, { "id": "ac7a711f-a2f2-4a9f-8304-413570e8ec46", "slug": "the-best-thing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-hughes/things-i-didnt-know/the-best-thing", "text": "The best thing fishing taught me, I think was how to be alone. Without this ability no writer can really survive or work, and there is a strong relationship between the activity of the fisherman, letting his line down into unknown depths in the hope of catching an unseen prey (which may be worth keeping, or may not) and that of a writer trolling his memory and reflections for unexpected jags and jerks of association.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert Hughes", "slug": "robert-hughes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-hughes" }, "book": { "title": "Things I Didn't Know", "slug": "things-i-didnt-know", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-hughes/things-i-didnt-know" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Hughes#Things_I_Didn't_Know_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:39" }, { "id": "14692abd-d001-4258-b1e4-0102dcc658d9", "slug": "no-one-can", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/aleph/no-one-can", "text": "“No one can learn to love by following a manual, and no one can learn to write by following a course. I’m not telling you to seek out other writers but to find people with different skills from yourself, because writing is no different from any other activity done with joy and enthusiasm”.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Paulo Coelho", "slug": "paulo-coelho", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho" }, "book": { "title": "Aleph", "slug": "aleph", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/aleph" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "enthusiasm", "slug": "enthusiasm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/enthusiasm" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelho#Aleph_(2011)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:33" }, { "id": "76bfff3a-671a-489a-b2b6-331a0b8d810a", "slug": "there-are-a-thousand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-makepeace-thackeray/the-history-of-henry-esmond/there-are-a-thousand", "text": "There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up the pen to write.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Makepeace Thackeray", "slug": "william-makepeace-thackeray", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-makepeace-thackeray" }, "book": { "title": "The History of Henry Esmond", "slug": "the-history-of-henry-esmond", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-makepeace-thackeray/the-history-of-henry-esmond" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "thinking", "slug": "thinking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/thinking" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Makepeace_Thackeray#The_History_of_Henry_Esmond_(1852)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:28" }, { "id": "deeb1609-1096-4761-8062-8ae164af0330", "slug": "people-have-got", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-gissing/new-grub-street/people-have-got", "text": "People have got that ancient prejudice so firmly rooted in their heads — that one mustn't write save at I the dictation of the Holy Spirit. I tell you, writing is a business.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Gissing", "slug": "george-gissing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-gissing" }, "book": { "title": "New Grub Street", "slug": "new-grub-street", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-gissing/new-grub-street" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 17, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "inspiration", "slug": "inspiration", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/inspiration" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Gissing#New_Grub_Street:_A_Novel_(1891)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:27" }, { "id": "f689f3ff-7225-4e76-836d-8fd032e0efca", "slug": "to-have-nothing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wallace-stevens/opus-posthumous/to-have-nothing", "text": "To have nothing to say and to say it in a tragic manner is not the same thing as having something to say.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wallace Stevens", "slug": "wallace-stevens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wallace-stevens" }, "book": { "title": "Opus Posthumous", "slug": "opus-posthumous", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wallace-stevens/opus-posthumous" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wallace_Stevens#Adagia", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:11" }, { "id": "4ee6ba04-0906-48ad-8e58-509619b6733a", "slug": "no-author-without", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-marble-faun/no-author-without", "text": "No author, without a trial, can conceive of the difficulty of writing a romance about a country where there is no shadow, no antiquity, no mystery, no picturesque and gloomy wrong, nor anything but a commonplace prosperity, in broad and simple daylight, as is happily the case with my dear native land. It will be very long, I trust, before romance writers may find congenial and easily handled themes, either in the annals of our stalwart republic, or in any characteristic and probable events of our individual lives. Romance and poetry, ivy, lichens and wallflowers need ruin to make them grow.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nathaniel Hawthorne", "slug": "nathaniel-hawthorne", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne" }, "book": { "title": "The Marble Faun", "slug": "the-marble-faun", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-marble-faun" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "America", "slug": "america", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/america" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne#The_Marble_Faun_(1860)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:08" }, { "id": "f09e034c-7dc9-41fa-b9fe-3aa5b4b3b3c8", "slug": "it-is-a-good", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-scarlet-letter/it-is-a-good", "text": "It is a good lesson — though it may often be a hard one — for a man who has dreamed of literary fame, and of making for himself a rank among the world’s dignitaries by such means, to step aside out of the narrow circle in which his claims are recognized, and to find how utterly devoid of all significance, beyond that circle, is all that he achieves, and all he aims at.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nathaniel Hawthorne", "slug": "nathaniel-hawthorne", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne" }, "book": { "title": "The Scarlet Letter", "slug": "the-scarlet-letter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-scarlet-letter" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "fame", "slug": "fame", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fame" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne#The_Scarlet_Letter_(1850)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:07" }, { "id": "c204f1cb-8656-4e96-bfce-a2036ccba4e6", "slug": "if-a-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-scarlet-letter/if-a-man", "text": "If a man, sitting all alone, cannot dream strange things, and make them look like truth, he need never try to write romances.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nathaniel Hawthorne", "slug": "nathaniel-hawthorne", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne" }, "book": { "title": "The Scarlet Letter", "slug": "the-scarlet-letter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-scarlet-letter" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "imagination", "slug": "imagination", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/imagination" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne#The_Scarlet_Letter_(1850)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:07" }, { "id": "e16d1411-9bde-4fdb-a77d-aa5f821b3187", "slug": "the-problem-if-anything", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-chabon/wonder-boys/the-problem-if-anything", "text": "The problem, if anything, was precisely the opposite. I had too much to write: too many fine and miserable buildings to construct and streets to name and clock towers to set chiming, too many characters to raise up from the dirt like flowers whose petals I peeled down to the intricate frail organs within, too many terrible genetic and fiduciary secrets to dig up and bury and dig up again, too many divorces to grant, heirs to disinherit, trysts to arrange, letters to misdirect into evil hands, innocent children to slay with rheumatic fever, women to leave unfulfilled and hopeless, men to drive to adultery and theft, fires to ignite at the hearts of ancient houses.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Michael Chabon", "slug": "michael-chabon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-chabon" }, "book": { "title": "Wonder Boys", "slug": "wonder-boys", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-chabon/wonder-boys" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Chabon#Wonder_Boys_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:06" }, { "id": "906feb9d-3495-451c-a9eb-b2b36d9aab38", "slug": "it-was-in-this", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-chabon/wonder-boys/it-was-in-this", "text": "It was in this man's class that I first began to wonder if people who wrote fiction were not suffering from some kind of disorder--from what I've since come to think of, remembering the wild nocturnal rockings of Albert Vetch, as the midnight disease.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Michael Chabon", "slug": "michael-chabon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-chabon" }, "book": { "title": "Wonder Boys", "slug": "wonder-boys", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-chabon/wonder-boys" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "madness", "slug": "madness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/madness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Chabon#Wonder_Boys_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:06" }, { "id": "4327cd85-fa82-4469-b9d7-87dd6956f3bf", "slug": "i-found-myself", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-chabon/wonder-boys/i-found-myself", "text": "I found myself going over a particular troublesome scene in the novel, for the one thousand and seventy-third time, in the manner of a lunatic ape in a cage at the zoo, running his fingers back and forth along the iron bars of his home.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Michael Chabon", "slug": "michael-chabon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-chabon" }, "book": { "title": "Wonder Boys", "slug": "wonder-boys", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-chabon/wonder-boys" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Chabon#Wonder_Boys_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:06" }, { "id": "3a3f415c-a228-47b9-a15b-7206ec83b404", "slug": "every-writer-has", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-chabon/wonder-boys/every-writer-has", "text": "Every writer has an ideal reader, I thought, and it was just my good luck that mine wanted to sleep with me.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Michael Chabon", "slug": "michael-chabon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-chabon" }, "book": { "title": "Wonder Boys", "slug": "wonder-boys", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-chabon/wonder-boys" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Chabon#Wonder_Boys_(1995)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:06" }, { "id": "231e93ea-7d94-48e2-a29b-47aded76ba75", "slug": "only-when-one", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/evelyn-waugh/a-little-learning/only-when-one", "text": "Only when one has lost all curiosity about the future has one reached the age to write an autobiography.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Evelyn Waugh", "slug": "evelyn-waugh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/evelyn-waugh" }, "book": { "title": "A Little Learning", "slug": "a-little-learning", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/evelyn-waugh/a-little-learning" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "old age", "slug": "old-age", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/old-age" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Evelyn_Waugh#A_Little_Learning_(1964)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:57" }, { "id": "6fca356f-f4dd-45d9-8b51-8ec8f467a9cc", "slug": "he-had-no-wish", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/evelyn-waugh/the-ordeal-of-gilbert-pinfold/he-had-no-wish", "text": "He had no wish to obliterate anything he had written, but he would dearly have liked to revise it, envying painters, who are allowed to return to the same theme time and time again, clarifying and enriching until they have done all they can with it. A novelist is condemned to provide a succession of novelties, new names for characters, new incidents for his plots, new scenery; but, Mr Pinfold maintained, most men harbour the germs of one or two books only; all else is professional trickery of which the most daemonic of the masters — Dickens and Balzac even — were flagrantly guilty.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Evelyn Waugh", "slug": "evelyn-waugh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/evelyn-waugh" }, "book": { "title": "The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold", "slug": "the-ordeal-of-gilbert-pinfold", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/evelyn-waugh/the-ordeal-of-gilbert-pinfold" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Evelyn_Waugh#The_Ordeal_of_Gilbert_Pinfold_(1957)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:56" }, { "id": "6e8da057-e0f8-4dd6-947c-2c72d5aaabbb", "slug": "all-writers-speak", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eudora-welty/on-writing/all-writers-speak", "text": "...all writers speak from, and speak to, emotions eternally the same in all of us: love, pity, terror do not show favorites or leave any of us out. (\"Writing and Analyzing a Story\")", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eudora Welty", "slug": "eudora-welty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eudora-welty" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eudora-welty/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "emotions", "slug": "emotions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emotions" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eudora_Welty#On_Writing_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:48" }, { "id": "5b34e9f8-1ab5-4550-bace-4414fdcd42db", "slug": "the-first-act", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eudora-welty/on-writing/the-first-act", "text": "The first act of insight is throw away the labels. In fiction, while we do not necessarily write about ourselves, we write out of ourselves, using ourselves; what we learn from, what we are sensitive to, what we feel strongly about--these become our characters and go to make our plots. Characters in fiction are conceived from within, and they have, accordingly, their own interior life; they are individuals every time.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eudora Welty", "slug": "eudora-welty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eudora-welty" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eudora-welty/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eudora_Welty#%22Must_the_Novelist_Crusade%3F%22", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:48" }, { "id": "4bdba1a2-7985-49a9-a6e6-f1ba19e09951", "slug": "since-we-must", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eudora-welty/on-writing/since-we-must", "text": "Since we must and do write each our own way, we may during actual writing get more lasting instruction not from another's work, whatever its blessings, however better it is than ours, but from our own poor scratched-over pages. For these we can hold up to life. That is, we are born with a mind and heart to hold each page up to, and to ask: is it valid? (\"Words Into Fiction\")", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eudora Welty", "slug": "eudora-welty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eudora-welty" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eudora-welty/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eudora_Welty#On_Writing_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:48" }, { "id": "309388a6-f4d6-4ba1-b989-fa3fd10c2a1d", "slug": "every-writer-like", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eudora-welty/on-writing/every-writer-like", "text": "Every writer, like everybody else, thinks he's living through the crisis of the ages. To write honestly and with all our powers is the least we can do, and the most.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eudora Welty", "slug": "eudora-welty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eudora-welty" }, "book": { "title": "On Writing", "slug": "on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eudora-welty/on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eudora_Welty#%22Must_the_Novelist_Crusade%3F%22", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:48" }, { "id": "16ce2f60-a1c9-4211-901e-604bfd36143f", "slug": "i-think-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rita-mae-brown/starting-from-scratch/i-think-the", "text": "I think the reason I choose the comic approach so often is because it's harder, therefore affording me the opportunity to show off. Also, a comic vision is my natural world view, but I've grown up in spite of myself and I can pass the comic twist if it detracts from what the characters need. Yes, the life of a saint is hard.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Rita Mae Brown", "slug": "rita-mae-brown", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rita-mae-brown" }, "book": { "title": "Starting from Scratch", "slug": "starting-from-scratch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rita-mae-brown/starting-from-scratch" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rita_Mae_Brown#Starting_from_Scratch_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:32" }, { "id": "8202bbc7-13bf-41f5-977b-2d61cc939c26", "slug": "one-kind-of-person", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-fowles/daniel-martin/one-kind-of-person", "text": "One kind of person is engaged in society without realizing it; another kind engages in society by controlling it. The one is a gear, a cog, and the other an engineer, a driver. But a person who has opted out has only his ability to express his disengagement between his existence and nothingness. Not cogito, but scribo, ergo sum.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Fowles", "slug": "john-fowles", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-fowles" }, "book": { "title": "Daniel Martin", "slug": "daniel-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-fowles/daniel-martin" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "society", "slug": "society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/society" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Fowles#Daniel_Martin_(1977)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:31" }, { "id": "a5d2f10e-256a-4656-89c8-12f7ee590904", "slug": "young-writers-take", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/neveryona/young-writers-take", "text": "Young writers take that most communal object, language, and perform on it that most individual act, creation.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Samuel R. Delany", "slug": "samuel-r-delany", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany" }, "book": { "title": "Neveryona", "slug": "neveryona", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/neveryona" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 447, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "language", "slug": "language", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_R._Delany#Nevery%C3%B3na_(1983)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:20" }, { "id": "587ee2ce-af84-4107-9fd8-a1004c205a75", "slug": "to-write-for", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/neveryona/to-write-for", "text": "‘To write for others,’ she thought, ‘it seems one must be a spy—or a teller of tales.’", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Samuel R. Delany", "slug": "samuel-r-delany", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany" }, "book": { "title": "Neveryona", "slug": "neveryona", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/neveryona" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 313, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_R._Delany#Nevery%C3%B3na_(1983)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:20" }, { "id": "e3c4ca46-ed60-4397-b1a8-b2ad6142ac49", "slug": "the-parts-i-like", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/dhalgren/the-parts-i-like", "text": "\"The parts I like, well...\" He shook his head, with pursed lips. \"They just don't have anything to do with me: somebody else wrote them, it seems, about things I may have thought about once. The parts I don't like--well, I can remember writing those, oh yeah, word by word by word.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Samuel R. Delany", "slug": "samuel-r-delany", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany" }, "book": { "title": "Dhalgren", "slug": "dhalgren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/dhalgren" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 357, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_R._Delany#Dhalgren_(1975)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:18" }, { "id": "e1b69e5c-0faf-4943-90b4-71d29c689ba4", "slug": "there-are-three", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/nova/there-are-three", "text": "There are three types of actions: purposeful, habitual, and gratuitous. Characters, to be immediate and apprehensible, must be presented by all three.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Samuel R. Delany", "slug": "samuel-r-delany", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany" }, "book": { "title": "Nova", "slug": "nova", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/nova" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 166, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_R._Delany#Nova_(1968)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:18" }, { "id": "88829c98-9468-410d-8140-c93704bcbde3", "slug": "you-do-have", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-rice/pandora/you-do-have", "text": "You do have a story inside you; it lies articulate and waiting to be written — behind your silence and your suffering.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anne Rice", "slug": "anne-rice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-rice" }, "book": { "title": "Pandora", "slug": "pandora", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-rice/pandora" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anne_Rice#Pandora_(1998)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:14" }, { "id": "56363128-467d-4e07-ad72-a19fa36c2806", "slug": "too-much-is-written", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-london/martin-eden/too-much-is-written", "text": "Too much is written by the men who can't write about the men who do write.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jack London", "slug": "jack-london", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-london" }, "book": { "title": "Martin Eden", "slug": "martin-eden", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-london/martin-eden" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "criticism", "slug": "criticism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/criticism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_London#Martin_Eden_(1909)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:04" }, { "id": "f56edd9d-76c2-49c4-a7ad-214b8a82d39d", "slug": "there-is-no-way", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope/barchester-towers/there-is-no-way", "text": "There is no way of writing well and also of writing easily.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anthony Trollope", "slug": "anthony-trollope", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope" }, "book": { "title": "Barchester Towers", "slug": "barchester-towers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope/barchester-towers" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_Trollope#Barchester_Towers_(1857)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:59" }, { "id": "33a7fb97-3e30-43e2-a0db-03569518570a", "slug": "i-love-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sylvia-plath/the-unabridged-journals-of-sylvia-plath/i-love-people", "text": "I love people. Everybody. I love them, I think, as a stamp collector loves his collection. Every story, every incident, every bit of conversation is raw material for me. My love's not impersonal yet not wholly subjective either. I would like to be everyone, a cripple, a dying man, a whore, and then come back to write about my thoughts, my emotions, as that person. But I am not omniscient. I have to live my life, and it is the only one I'll ever have. And you cannot regard your own life with objective curiosity all the time.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sylvia Plath", "slug": "sylvia-plath", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sylvia-plath" }, "book": { "title": "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath", "slug": "the-unabridged-journals-of-sylvia-plath", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sylvia-plath/the-unabridged-journals-of-sylvia-plath" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sylvia_Plath#The_Unabridged_Journals_of_Sylvia_Plath_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:42" }, { "id": "6bcaad48-33fa-4367-be2d-b911ae863c19", "slug": "the-manuscript-lay", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/norman-mailer/barbary-shore/the-manuscript-lay", "text": "The manuscript lay like a dust-rag on his desk, and Eitel found, as he had found before, that the difficulty of art was that it forced a man back on his life, and each time the task was more difficult and distasteful.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Norman Mailer", "slug": "norman-mailer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/norman-mailer" }, "book": { "title": "Barbary Shore", "slug": "barbary-shore", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/norman-mailer/barbary-shore" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "art", "slug": "art", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Mailer#Barbary_Shore_(1951)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:13" }, { "id": "8c20dfa2-71a1-4155-ad94-afa25ec538b7", "slug": "the-only-way", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/margaret-atwood/the-blind-assassin/the-only-way", "text": "The only way you can write the truth is to assume that what you set down will never be read. Not by any other person, and not even by yourself at some later date. Otherwise you begin excusing yourself. You must see the writing as emerging like a long scroll of ink from the index finger of your right hand; you must see your left hand erasing it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Margaret Atwood", "slug": "margaret-atwood", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/margaret-atwood" }, "book": { "title": "The Blind Assassin", "slug": "the-blind-assassin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/margaret-atwood/the-blind-assassin" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Margaret_Atwood#The_Blind_Assassin_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:10" }, { "id": "4bd5471b-7616-4b72-ae07-2475c0f0910b", "slug": "writing-is-a-serious", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead/writing-is-a-serious", "text": "\"Writing is a serious business and not for any stray bastard that wants to try it.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "The Fountainhead", "slug": "the-fountainhead", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-fountainhead" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 501, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead#Part_III_(_Gail_Wynand_)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:09" }, { "id": "bd6016ce-009b-48ca-a6e1-de162817c723", "slug": "the-artist-deals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-left-hand-of-darkness/the-artist-deals", "text": "The artist deals in what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ursula K. Le Guin", "slug": "ursula-k-le-guin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin" }, "book": { "title": "The Left Hand of Darkness", "slug": "the-left-hand-of-darkness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-left-hand-of-darkness" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "art", "slug": "art", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin#The_Left_Hand_of_Darkness_(1969)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:53" }, { "id": "a193740a-52df-4bf4-b2c8-cbc7974d7f05", "slug": "the-medium-is-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-mortimer/where-theres-a-will/the-medium-is-the", "text": "The \"medium is the message\" is one of the world's silliest remarks. The message is the message, and it doesn't matter whether you send it by e-mail, a note in a bottle or on a picture postcard. The book, or the poem, or the play is what counts and it doesn't matter if it's written with a pen on a long sheet of ruled paper, as I am writing now, or on the most highly developed word processor. No machine can help with the rhythms of your prose, even if it can spell better than you can.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Mortimer", "slug": "john-mortimer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-mortimer" }, "book": { "title": "Where There's a Will", "slug": "where-theres-a-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-mortimer/where-theres-a-will" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "media", "slug": "media", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/media" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Mortimer#Where_There's_a_Will:_Thoughts_on_the_Good_Life_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:44" }, { "id": "daf0e118-c4c7-41f4-9d3d-e5cab8360799", "slug": "there-are-it-seems", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/standing-by-words/there-are-it-seems", "text": "There are, it seems, two Muses: the Muse of Inspiration, who gives us inarticulate visions and desires, and the Muse of Realization, who returns again and again to say, “It is yet more difficult than you thought.” This is the muse of form. The first muse is the one mainly listened to in a cheap-energy civilization, in which “economic health” depends on the assumption that everything desirable lies within easy reach of anyone. To hear the second muse one must move outside the cheap-energy enclosure. It is the willingness to hear the second muse that keeps us cheerful in our work. To hear only the first is to live in the bitterness of disappointment.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wendell Berry", "slug": "wendell-berry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry" }, "book": { "title": "Standing by Words", "slug": "standing-by-words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/standing-by-words" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry#Poetry_and_Marriage:_The_Use_of_Old_Forms_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:24" }, { "id": "4980e968-b0c7-4854-b820-a9e672c24b41", "slug": "in-the-effort", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/the-way-of-ignorance/in-the-effort", "text": "In the effort to tell a whole story, to see it whole and clear, I have had to imagine more than I have known.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wendell Berry", "slug": "wendell-berry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry" }, "book": { "title": "The Way of Ignorance", "slug": "the-way-of-ignorance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/the-way-of-ignorance" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "imagination", "slug": "imagination", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/imagination" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry#The_Way_of_Ignorance_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:24" }, { "id": "7a4b4ee8-e82e-4a56-85b9-a5e629494cf1", "slug": "i-busied-myself", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley/frankenstein/i-busied-myself", "text": "I busied myself to think of a story, — a story to rival those which had excited us to this task. One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature, and awaken thrilling horror—one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart. If I did not accomplish these things, my ghost story would be unworthy of its name.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mary Shelley", "slug": "mary-shelley", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley" }, "book": { "title": "Frankenstein", "slug": "frankenstein", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley/frankenstein" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fear", "slug": "fear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley#Introduction_to_the_1831_edition_of_Frankenstein", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:47" }, { "id": "4a71ed8a-5827-4280-9109-09f60ca7529d", "slug": "as-a-child", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley/frankenstein/as-a-child", "text": "As a child I scribbled; and my favourite pastime, during the hours given me for recreation, was to \"write stories.\" Still I had a dearer pleasure than this, which was the formation of castles in the air—the indulging in waking dreams—the following up trains of thought, which had for their subject the formation of a succession of imaginary incidents. My dreams were at once more fantastic and agreeable than my writings.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mary Shelley", "slug": "mary-shelley", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley" }, "book": { "title": "Frankenstein", "slug": "frankenstein", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley/frankenstein" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "imagination", "slug": "imagination", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/imagination" }, { "name": "dreams and aspirations", "slug": "dreams-and-aspirations", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dreams-and-aspirations" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley#Introduction_to_the_1831_edition_of_Frankenstein", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:47" }, { "id": "063d93ea-4e65-4ab6-a024-d40d5d316795", "slug": "what-terrified-me-will", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley/frankenstein/what-terrified-me-will", "text": "What terrified me will terrify others; and I need only describe the spectre which had haunted my midnight pillow.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mary Shelley", "slug": "mary-shelley", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley" }, "book": { "title": "Frankenstein", "slug": "frankenstein", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley/frankenstein" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fear", "slug": "fear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley#Introduction_to_the_1831_edition_of_Frankenstein", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:47" }, { "id": "bd377207-8d50-4591-a993-b5755c3c074b", "slug": "the-art-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/murasaki-shikibu/the-tale-of-genji/the-art-of-the", "text": "[The art of the novel] does not simply consist in the author's telling a story about the adventures of some other person. On the contrary, it happens because the storyteller's own experience of men and things, whether for good or ill—not only what he has passed through himself, but even events which he has only witnessed or been told of—has moved him to an emotion so passionate that he can no longer keep it shut up in his heart.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Murasaki Shikibu", "slug": "murasaki-shikibu", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/murasaki-shikibu" }, "book": { "title": "The Tale of Genji", "slug": "the-tale-of-genji", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/murasaki-shikibu/the-tale-of-genji" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" }, { "name": "emotions", "slug": "emotions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emotions" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Murasaki_Shikibu#The_Tale_of_Genji,_trans._Arthur_Waley", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:39" }, { "id": "918dec46-a0be-4ad6-b983-c51fa82c3867", "slug": "thus-it-has", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-von-clausewitz/on-war/thus-it-has", "text": "Thus it has come about that our theoretical and critical literature, instead of giving plain, straightforward arguments in which the author at least always knows what he is saying and the reader what he is reading, is crammed with jargon, ending at obscure crossroads where the author loses its readers. Sometimes these books are even worse: they are just hollow shells. The author himself no longer knows just what he is thinking and soothes himself with obscure ideas which would not satisfy him if expressed in plain speech.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Carl von Clausewitz", "slug": "carl-von-clausewitz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-von-clausewitz" }, "book": { "title": "On War", "slug": "on-war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-von-clausewitz/on-war" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "language", "slug": "language", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz#Book_2", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:37" }, { "id": "a9b41f5b-6b75-4d52-9193-ee2908f7b4ab", "slug": "one-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gertrude-stein/paris-france/one-of-the", "text": "One of the pleasant things those of us who write or paint do is to have the daily miracle. It does come.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gertrude Stein", "slug": "gertrude-stein", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gertrude-stein" }, "book": { "title": "Paris France", "slug": "paris-france", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gertrude-stein/paris-france" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "art", "slug": "art", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gertrude_Stein#Paris_France_(1940)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:34" }, { "id": "35171345-3472-4c8e-86bd-50541ba69a91", "slug": "until-writing-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marshall-mcluhan/the-medium-is-the-massage/until-writing-was", "text": "Until writing was invented, man lived in acoustic space: boundless, directionless, horizonless, in the dark of the mind, in the world of emotion, by primordial intuition, terror. Speech is a social chart of this bog. (p. 48)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Marshall McLuhan", "slug": "marshall-mcluhan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marshall-mcluhan" }, "book": { "title": "The Medium is the Massage", "slug": "the-medium-is-the-massage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marshall-mcluhan/the-medium-is-the-massage" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "language", "slug": "language", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan#The_Medium_is_the_Massage_(1967)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:14" }, { "id": "3dbcd886-a4ea-4275-a79e-7c8f229b7b70", "slug": "the-invention-of-printing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marshall-mcluhan/the-medium-is-the-massage/the-invention-of-printing", "text": "The invention of printing did away with anonymity, fostering ideas of literary fame and the habit of considering intellectual effort as private property. (p. 122)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Marshall McLuhan", "slug": "marshall-mcluhan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marshall-mcluhan" }, "book": { "title": "The Medium is the Massage", "slug": "the-medium-is-the-massage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marshall-mcluhan/the-medium-is-the-massage" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "fame", "slug": "fame", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fame" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan#The_Medium_is_the_Massage_(1967)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:13" }, { "id": "1223fc94-683e-4c2e-b340-2c057383ff3d", "slug": "the-alphabet-when", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marshall-mcluhan/understanding-media/the-alphabet-when", "text": "The alphabet, when pushed to a high degree of abstract visual intensity, became typography. The printed word with its specialist intensity burst the bonds of medieval corporate guilds and monasteries, created extreme individualist patterns of enterprise and monopoly. (p. 23)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Marshall McLuhan", "slug": "marshall-mcluhan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marshall-mcluhan" }, "book": { "title": "Understanding Media", "slug": "understanding-media", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marshall-mcluhan/understanding-media" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "history", "slug": "history", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan#Understanding_Media_(1964)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:13" }, { "id": "be7734d8-fb69-4cfa-8b53-ed96cdb52cc0", "slug": "tormented-by-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/tormented-by-the", "text": "Tormented by the cursed ambition always to put a whole book in a page, a whole page in a sentence, and this sentence in a word. I am speaking of myself.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:10" }, { "id": "1e2c7942-6dea-4c7a-87b5-68bceb397712", "slug": "and-perhaps-there", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/and-perhaps-there", "text": "And perhaps there is no advice to give a writer more important than this: — Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "advice", "slug": "advice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/advice" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:10" }, { "id": "f408a562-75c1-48f4-81eb-103163fa467f", "slug": "speak-for-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/speak-for-the", "text": "Speak for the ear and write for the memory.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "conversation", "slug": "conversation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conversation" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:09" }, { "id": "4b727453-7f31-493a-8fed-bbd3d242f26e", "slug": "what-is-clear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/what-is-clear", "text": "What is clear should not be drawn out too much. These useless explanations, these endless examinations are a kind of long whiteness and lead to boredom. It is the uniformity of a wall, of a long piece of laundry.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "boredom", "slug": "boredom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/boredom" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:09" }, { "id": "77f7894d-8310-4e6f-ad05-fadca89fa804", "slug": "i-dont-like", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/i-dont-like", "text": "I don't like to write anything down on paper that I would not say to myself.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "honesty", "slug": "honesty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/honesty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:08" }, { "id": "5622bd3f-e401-40db-85d6-2044f3fb411e", "slug": "one-ruins-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/one-ruins-the", "text": "One ruins the mind with too much writing. — One rusts it by not writing at all.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:08" }, { "id": "f0cbdd5c-b5b8-4540-abf6-fbcc31e92ef4", "slug": "when-you-write", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/when-you-write", "text": "When you write easily, you always think you have more talent than you really do.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "talent", "slug": "talent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/talent" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:07" }, { "id": "cf821518-e7ca-4730-a16b-abe7ea041ffa", "slug": "all-things-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/all-things-that", "text": "All things that are easy to say have already been perfectly said.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "language", "slug": "language", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:07" }, { "id": "b8ec10c2-8ce2-4cb6-b301-7420450d748f", "slug": "it-is-not-my", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/it-is-not-my", "text": "It is not my words that I polish, but my ideas.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:07" }, { "id": "5c0c80b6-f389-432f-aa7c-8a773dd01c1d", "slug": "everything-that-is-exact", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/everything-that-is-exact", "text": "Everything that is exact is short.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:07" }, { "id": "38e664d9-8e51-4caa-9310-4cdabe148096", "slug": "let-us-look", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/let-us-look", "text": "Let us look to beautiful poetry for the material of a beautiful prose.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "poetry", "slug": "poetry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poetry" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:07" }, { "id": "6d562444-4b96-498a-9be3-461bc5e2a60a", "slug": "objects-must-be-described", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/objects-must-be-described", "text": "Objects must be described only in order to describe the feelings they envoke in us.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:06" }, { "id": "3db3e453-5e0e-4ad3-bba5-dee5c389c114", "slug": "writing-is-closer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/writing-is-closer", "text": "Writing is closer to thinking than to speaking.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Joseph Joubert", "slug": "joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert" }, "book": { "title": "The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert", "slug": "the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "thinking", "slug": "thinking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/thinking" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Joubert#The_Notebooks_of_Joseph_Joubert_(1883)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:05" }, { "id": "ee03a367-7f53-429e-99ba-d2d1cbb01e10", "slug": "i-like-a-chapter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/journal-of-a-novel/i-like-a-chapter", "text": "I like a chapter to have design of tone, as well as of form. A chapter should be a perfect cell in the whole book and should be almost able to stand alone. If this is done then the breaks we call chapters are not arbitrary but rather articulations which allow the free movement of the story.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "Journal of a Novel", "slug": "journal-of-a-novel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/journal-of-a-novel" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck#Journal_of_a_Novel_(1969)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:04" }, { "id": "8943af20-09d0-484e-b784-0fa89f7eefe0", "slug": "a-man-who", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-winter-of-our-discontent/a-man-who", "text": "A man who tells secrets or stories must think of who is hearing or reading, for a story has as many versions as it has readers.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "The Winter of Our Discontent", "slug": "the-winter-of-our-discontent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-winter-of-our-discontent" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck#Part_One", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:02" }, { "id": "f3b4e086-3970-4f27-a692-174a4a8296ad", "slug": "the-style-in-which", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-silverberg/a-time-of-changes/the-style-in-which", "text": "The style in which it was written told me much: I found that a man who cannot phrase his thoughts cleanly on paper probably has no thoughts worth notice.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert Silverberg", "slug": "robert-silverberg", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-silverberg" }, "book": { "title": "A Time of Changes", "slug": "a-time-of-changes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-silverberg/a-time-of-changes" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 89, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Silverberg#A_Time_of_Changes_(1971)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:41" }, { "id": "10908600-d6a9-4000-a97d-dc50d07219ed", "slug": "i-believe-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-jay-gould/wonderful-life/i-believe-that", "text": "I believe […] that we can still have a genre of scientific books suitable for and accessible alike to professionals and interested laypeople. The concepts of science, in all their richness and ambiguity, can be presented without any compromise, without any simplification counting as distortion, in language accessible to all intelligent people. […] I hope that this book can be read with profit both in seminars for graduate students and—if the movie stinks and you forgot your sleeping pills—on the businessman's special to Tokyo.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen Jay Gould", "slug": "stephen-jay-gould", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-jay-gould" }, "book": { "title": "Wonderful Life", "slug": "wonderful-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-jay-gould/wonderful-life" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 16, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "science", "slug": "science", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/science" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Jay_Gould#Wonderful_Life_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:34" }, { "id": "eae57d9b-84b4-4741-9817-e7f9a7ffba4f", "slug": "it-isnt-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-roth/the-facts/it-isnt-that", "text": "It isn't that you subordinate your ideas to the force of the facts in autobiography but that you construct a sequence of stories to bind up the facts with a persuasive hypothesis that unravels your history's meaning.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip Roth", "slug": "philip-roth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-roth" }, "book": { "title": "The Facts", "slug": "the-facts", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-roth/the-facts" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "memory", "slug": "memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/memory" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Roth#The_Facts:_A_Novelist's_Autobiography_(1988)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:08" }, { "id": "5b6ff47f-0617-4956-8d14-e26b0b44ea9d", "slug": "people-ask-where", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/c-j-cherryh/downbelow-station/people-ask-where", "text": "People ask where writers get ideas.\n\nTake my advice. Some cool, clear night, drive to a country place where city lights don’t block your view. Turn off the car lights. Get out and look up. And see our real neighborhood.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "C. J. Cherryh", "slug": "c-j-cherryh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/c-j-cherryh" }, "book": { "title": "Downbelow Station", "slug": "downbelow-station", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/c-j-cherryh/downbelow-station" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 3, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "the universe", "slug": "the-universe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-universe" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/C._J._Cherryh#Downbelow_Station_(1981)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:06" }, { "id": "91d6a581-ef63-4a6d-a23e-e3ebea702931", "slug": "people-who-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/friday/people-who-are", "text": "People who are busy and happy don’t write diaries; they are too busy living.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert A. Heinlein", "slug": "robert-a-heinlein", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein" }, "book": { "title": "Friday", "slug": "friday", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/friday" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 353, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "happiness", "slug": "happiness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein#Friday_(1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:02" }, { "id": "75179721-0ea2-4e6e-886e-67f07111be80", "slug": "authorship-of-any", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-affluent-society/authorship-of-any", "text": "Authorship of any sort is a fantastic indulgence of the ego. It is well no doubt, to reflect on how much one owes to others.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Kenneth Galbraith", "slug": "john-kenneth-galbraith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith" }, "book": { "title": "The Affluent Society", "slug": "the-affluent-society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-affluent-society" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "pride", "slug": "pride", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/pride" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith#The_Affluent_Society_(1958)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:55" }, { "id": "ef3d1846-fde2-45e1-b744-d6a2b2af859d", "slug": "writing-is-a-long", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-great-crash-1929/writing-is-a-long", "text": "Writing is a long and lonesome business; back of the problems in thought and composition hover always the awful questions: Is this the page that shows the empty shell? Is it here and now that they find me out?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Kenneth Galbraith", "slug": "john-kenneth-galbraith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith" }, "book": { "title": "The Great Crash 1929", "slug": "the-great-crash-1929", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-great-crash-1929" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith#The_Great_Crash,_1929_(1954_and_1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:54" }, { "id": "17db6e13-7aab-473f-8903-470abf134c4a", "slug": "i-never-enjoyed", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-great-crash-1929/i-never-enjoyed", "text": "I never enjoyed writing a book more; indeed, it is the only one I remember in no sense as a labor but as a joy.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Kenneth Galbraith", "slug": "john-kenneth-galbraith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith" }, "book": { "title": "The Great Crash 1929", "slug": "the-great-crash-1929", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-great-crash-1929" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith#The_Great_Crash,_1929_(1954_and_1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:54" }, { "id": "31882034-529d-45f8-a030-40a000a8b094", "slug": "it-has-been", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/p-g-wodehouse/cocktail-time/it-has-been", "text": "It has been well said that an author who expects results from a first novel is in a position similar to that of a man who drops a rose petal down the Grand Canyon of Arizona and listens for the echo.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "P. G. Wodehouse", "slug": "p-g-wodehouse", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/p-g-wodehouse" }, "book": { "title": "Cocktail Time", "slug": "cocktail-time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/p-g-wodehouse/cocktail-time" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._G._Wodehouse#Cocktail_Time_(1958)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:38" }, { "id": "f315871b-43d1-44f0-bbce-c2d55b82e791", "slug": "for-an-author", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/p-g-wodehouse/pigs-have-wings/for-an-author", "text": "For an author Jerry Vail was rather nice-looking, most authors, as is widely known, resembling in appearance the more degraded types of fish, unless they look like birds, when they could pass as vultures and no questions asked.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "P. G. Wodehouse", "slug": "p-g-wodehouse", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/p-g-wodehouse" }, "book": { "title": "Pigs Have Wings", "slug": "pigs-have-wings", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/p-g-wodehouse/pigs-have-wings" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._G._Wodehouse#Pigs_Have_Wings_(1952)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:36" }, { "id": "ee7ff383-1dac-4e9c-ade2-592e3f33c88a", "slug": "dedication-to-my-daughter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/p-g-wodehouse/the-heart-of-a-goof/dedication-to-my-daughter", "text": "Dedication: To my daughter Leonora without whose never-failing sympathy and encouragement this book would have been finished in half the time.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "P. G. Wodehouse", "slug": "p-g-wodehouse", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/p-g-wodehouse" }, "book": { "title": "The Heart of a Goof", "slug": "the-heart-of-a-goof", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/p-g-wodehouse/the-heart-of-a-goof" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._G._Wodehouse#The_Heart_of_a_Goof_(1926)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:25" }, { "id": "93665d3f-8bec-45bc-834e-e0544cda3c63", "slug": "everything-written-with", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/raymond-chandler/the-simple-art-of-murder/everything-written-with", "text": "Everything written with vitality expresses that vitality: there are no dull subjects, only dull minds. All men who read escape from something else into what lies behind the printed page; the quality of the dream may be argued, but its release has become a functional necessity. All men must escape at times from the deadly rhythm of their private thoughts. It is part of the process of life among thinking beings.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Raymond Chandler", "slug": "raymond-chandler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/raymond-chandler" }, "book": { "title": "The Simple Art of Murder", "slug": "the-simple-art-of-murder", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/raymond-chandler/the-simple-art-of-murder" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler#The_Simple_Art_of_Murder_(1950)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:16" }, { "id": "5243c8cb-7680-4d53-a322-af50efc649b8", "slug": "who-is-this", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/raymond-chandler/farewell-my-lovely/who-is-this", "text": "“Who is this Hemingway person at all?”\n\n“A guy that keeps saying the same thing over and over until you begin to believe it must be good.”\n\n“That must take a hell of a long time,” the big man said.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Raymond Chandler", "slug": "raymond-chandler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/raymond-chandler" }, "book": { "title": "Farewell, My Lovely", "slug": "farewell-my-lovely", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/raymond-chandler/farewell-my-lovely" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler#Farewell,_My_Lovely_(1940)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:15" }, { "id": "d05058a0-4428-4480-8333-3287369867bf", "slug": "events-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hunter-s-thompson/proud-highway/events-of-the", "text": "Events of the past two years have virtually decreed that I shall wrestle with the literary muse for the rest of my days. And so, having tasted the poverty of one end of the scale, I have no choice but to direct my energies toward the acquisition of fame and fortune. Frankly, I have no taste for either poverty or honest labor, so writing is the only recourse left me.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Hunter S. Thompson", "slug": "hunter-s-thompson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hunter-s-thompson" }, "book": { "title": "Proud Highway", "slug": "proud-highway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hunter-s-thompson/proud-highway" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 106, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson#The_Proud_Highway_:_The_Fear_and_Loathing_Letters_Volume_I_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:09" }, { "id": "7363ace1-d028-41e7-b912-b1bfaba944d3", "slug": "i-find-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hunter-s-thompson/proud-highway/i-find-that", "text": "I find that by putting things in writing I can understand them and see them a little more objectively. … For words are merely tools and if you use the right ones you can actually put even your life in order, if you don't lie to yourself and use the wrong words.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Hunter S. Thompson", "slug": "hunter-s-thompson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hunter-s-thompson" }, "book": { "title": "Proud Highway", "slug": "proud-highway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hunter-s-thompson/proud-highway" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 133, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "words", "slug": "words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/words" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson#The_Proud_Highway_:_The_Fear_and_Loathing_Letters_Volume_I_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:09" }, { "id": "042d6544-ed41-4df1-b64c-3a086d687412", "slug": "here-is-a-lesson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/a-man-without-a-country/here-is-a-lesson", "text": "Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "A Man Without a Country", "slug": "a-man-without-a-country", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/a-man-without-a-country" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#A_Man_Without_a_Country_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:45" }, { "id": "aa9dc65a-d377-49e4-ae13-951635fad36a", "slug": "who-is-more", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/bluebeard/who-is-more", "text": "Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Bluebeard", "slug": "bluebeard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/bluebeard" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 168, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "censorship", "slug": "censorship", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/censorship" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Bluebeard_(1987)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:42" }, { "id": "3f51042f-5198-4515-824a-78aac9aa3861", "slug": "and-i-believe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/palm-sunday/and-i-believe", "text": "And I believe that reading and writing are the most nourishing forms of meditation anyone has so far found. By reading the writings of the most interesting minds in history, we meditate with our own minds and theirs as well. This to me is a miracle.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Palm Sunday", "slug": "palm-sunday", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/palm-sunday" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Palm_Sunday_(1981)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:41" }, { "id": "14ad8e49-20ce-4b7f-8896-819dfe5a5ca1", "slug": "i-have-become", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/between-time-and-timbuktu/i-have-become", "text": "I have become an enthusiast for the printed word again. I have to be that, I now understand, because I want to be a character in all of my works. I can do that in print. In a movie, somehow, the author always vanishes. Everything of mine which has been filmed so far has been one character short, and that character is me.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Between Time and Timbuktu", "slug": "between-time-and-timbuktu", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/between-time-and-timbuktu" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "cinema", "slug": "cinema", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/cinema" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Between_Time_and_Timbuktu_(1972)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:39" }, { "id": "6cdcc2b8-e624-4d4e-8abe-c34b0df32bb8", "slug": "when-a-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/cats-cradle/when-a-man", "text": "When a man becomes a writer, I think he takes on a sacred obligation to produce beauty and enlightenment and comfort at top speed.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Cat's Cradle", "slug": "cats-cradle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/cats-cradle" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "beauty", "slug": "beauty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/beauty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cat's_Cradle#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:37" }, { "id": "780dcf79-7b95-4530-a054-1d7de2299c6d", "slug": "writing-well-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-mann/the-magic-mountain/writing-well-was", "text": "Writing well was almost the same as thinking well, and thinking well was the next thing to acting well. All moral discipline, all moral perfection derived from the soul of literature, from the soul of human dignity, which was the moving spirit of both humanity and politics. Yes, they were all one, one and the same force, one and the same idea, and all of them could be comprehended in one single word... The word was — civilization!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Mann", "slug": "thomas-mann", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-mann" }, "book": { "title": "The Magic Mountain", "slug": "the-magic-mountain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-mann/the-magic-mountain" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "civilization", "slug": "civilization", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/civilization" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Mann#The_Magic_Mountain_(1924)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:16" }, { "id": "60ef4e44-a1be-4665-9f01-3db1529dc24c", "slug": "i-always-play", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/heartfire/i-always-play", "text": "“I always play with everybody,” said Honoré. “It is my vocation. God put me on the earth to do with people what cats do to mice. Play with them, chew the last bit of life out of them, them pick them up in my mouth and drop them on people’s doorsteps. That is the business of literature.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Heartfire", "slug": "heartfire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/heartfire" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Heartfire_(1998)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:14" }, { "id": "5ac203bd-c428-44ee-97f6-9134cd3d803a", "slug": "writing-ought-either", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/willa-cather-on-writing/writing-ought-either", "text": "Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demand — a business as safe and commendable as making soap or breakfast foods — or it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand, something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nothing to do with standardized values.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Willa Cather", "slug": "willa-cather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather" }, "book": { "title": "Willa Cather On Writing", "slug": "willa-cather-on-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/willa-cather-on-writing" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "art", "slug": "art", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art" }, { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Willa_Cather#Willa_Cather_on_Writing_(1949)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:05" }, { "id": "70309aa2-2c0d-42e9-8057-10915860d646", "slug": "the-higher-processes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/not-under-forty/the-higher-processes", "text": "The higher processes are all processes of simplification. The novelist must learn to write, and then he must unlearn it; just as the modern painter learns to draw, and then learns when utterly to disregard his accomplishment, when to subordinate it to a higher and truer effect.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Willa Cather", "slug": "willa-cather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather" }, "book": { "title": "Not Under Forty", "slug": "not-under-forty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/not-under-forty" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "simplicity", "slug": "simplicity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/simplicity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Willa_Cather#Not_Under_Forty_(1936)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:04" }, { "id": "4d2f19d7-70c8-4d1d-b065-b4bc1e8f5132", "slug": "to-note-an-artists", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/not-under-forty/to-note-an-artists", "text": "To note an artist's limitations is but to define his talent. A reporter can write equally well about everything that is presented to his view, but a creative writer can do his best only with what lies within the range and character of his deepest sympathies.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Willa Cather", "slug": "willa-cather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather" }, "book": { "title": "Not Under Forty", "slug": "not-under-forty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/not-under-forty" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "talent", "slug": "talent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/talent" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Willa_Cather#Not_Under_Forty_(1936)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:04" }, { "id": "2f711cfa-09bf-4acd-89c1-3502096ef98a", "slug": "the-sayings-of-a-community", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/not-under-forty/the-sayings-of-a-community", "text": "The \"sayings\" of a community, its proverbs, are its characteristic comment upon life; they imply its history, suggest its attitude toward the world and its way of accepting life. Such an idiom makes the finest language any writer can have; and he can never get it with a notebook. He himself must be able to think and feel in that speech — it is a gift from heart to heart.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Willa Cather", "slug": "willa-cather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather" }, "book": { "title": "Not Under Forty", "slug": "not-under-forty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/not-under-forty" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "language", "slug": "language", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Willa_Cather#Not_Under_Forty_(1936)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:04" }, { "id": "254367b1-81c2-4196-99b5-7c03696a4b1d", "slug": "there-is-a-popular", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/not-under-forty/there-is-a-popular", "text": "There is a popular superstition that \"realism\" asserts itself in the cataloguing of a great number of material objects, in explaining mechanical processes, the methods of operating manufactories and trades, and in minutely and unsparingly describing physical sensations. But is not realism, more than it is anything else, an attitude of mind on the part of the writer toward his material, a vague indication of the sympathy and candour with which he accepts, rather than chooses, his theme?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Willa Cather", "slug": "willa-cather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather" }, "book": { "title": "Not Under Forty", "slug": "not-under-forty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/not-under-forty" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Willa_Cather#Not_Under_Forty_(1936)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:04" }, { "id": "122396bc-c26b-4ddb-b60c-f02f34adb799", "slug": "one-might-say", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/not-under-forty/one-might-say", "text": "One might say that every fine story must leave in the mind of the sensitive reader an intangible residuum of pleasure; a cadence, a quality of voice that is exclusively the writer's own, individual, unique. A quality which one can remember without the volume at hand, can experience over and over again in the mind but can never absolutely define, as one can experience in memory a melody, or the summer perfume of a garden... It is a common fallacy that a writer, if he is talented enough, can achieve this poignant quality by improving upon his subject-matter, by using his \"imagination\" upon it and twisting it to suit his purpose. The truth is that by such a process (which is not imaginative at all!) he can at best produce only a brilliant sham, which, like a badly built and pretentious house, looks poor and shabby after a few years. If he achieves anything noble, anything enduring, it must be by giving himself absolutely to his material. And this gift of sympathy is his great gift; is the fine thing in him that alone can make his work fine.\n\nThe artist spends a lifetime in pursuing the things that haunt him, in having his mind \"teased\" by them, in trying to get these conceptions down on paper exactly as they are to him and not in conventional poses supposed to reveal their character; trying this method and that, as a painter tries different lightings and different attitudes with his subject to catch the one that presents it more suggestively than any other. And at the end of a lifetime he emerges with much that is more or less happy experimenting, and comparatively little that is the very flower of himself and his genius.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Willa Cather", "slug": "willa-cather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather" }, "book": { "title": "Not Under Forty", "slug": "not-under-forty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/not-under-forty" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Willa_Cather#Not_Under_Forty_(1936)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:04" }, { "id": "a3104b64-e91c-419b-98f5-db68a4c7720e", "slug": "the-journalist-researches", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/stranger-than-fiction/the-journalist-researches", "text": "The journalist researches a story. The novelist imagines it.\n\nWhat’s funny is, you’d be amazed at the amount of time a novelist has to spend with people in order to create this single lonely voice. This seemingly isolated world.\n\nIt’s hard to call any of my novels “fiction.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chuck Palahniuk", "slug": "chuck-palahniuk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk" }, "book": { "title": "Stranger Than Fiction", "slug": "stranger-than-fiction", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/stranger-than-fiction" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "journalism", "slug": "journalism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/journalism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chuck_Palahniuk#Stranger_Than_Fiction:_True_Stories_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:59" }, { "id": "ca469818-2e66-442e-9537-acac4ced1381", "slug": "no-one-can", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rainer-maria-rilke/letters-to-a-young-poet/no-one-can", "text": "No one can advise or help you — no one. There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Rainer Maria Rilke", "slug": "rainer-maria-rilke", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rainer-maria-rilke" }, "book": { "title": "Letters to a Young Poet", "slug": "letters-to-a-young-poet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/rainer-maria-rilke/letters-to-a-young-poet" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "vocation", "slug": "vocation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/vocation" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rainer_Maria_Rilke#Letters_to_a_Young_Poet_(1934)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:55" }, { "id": "18b17e9d-fafc-446f-88cf-1caf068ebb3b", "slug": "with-the-passage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-branch-cabell/the-cream-of-the-jest/with-the-passage", "text": "With the passage of time, whatever a man had done, whether for good or evil, with the man's bodily organs, left the man's parish unaffected: only a man's thoughts and dreams could outlive him, in any serious sense, and these might survive with perhaps augmenting influence: so that Kennaston had come to think artistic creation in words — since marble and canvas inevitably perished — was the one, possibly, worth-while employment of human life. But here was a crude corporal deed which bluntly destroyed thoughts, and annihilated dreams by wholesale. To Kennaston this seemed the one real tragedy that could be staged on earth....", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James Branch Cabell", "slug": "james-branch-cabell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-branch-cabell" }, "book": { "title": "The Cream of the Jest", "slug": "the-cream-of-the-jest", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-branch-cabell/the-cream-of-the-jest" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "art", "slug": "art", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "violence", "slug": "violence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/violence" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Branch_Cabell#The_Cream_of_the_Jest_(1917)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:49" }, { "id": "72782419-e48a-415d-bf55-021b6bc4f7ec", "slug": "cheat-your-landlord", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-s-burroughs/the-western-lands/cheat-your-landlord", "text": "Cheat your landlord if you can and must, but do not try to shortchange the Muse. It cannot be done. You can't fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William S. Burroughs", "slug": "william-s-burroughs", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-s-burroughs" }, "book": { "title": "The Western Lands", "slug": "the-western-lands", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-s-burroughs/the-western-lands" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "quality", "slug": "quality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/quality" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_S._Burroughs#The_Western_Lands_(1987)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:47" }, { "id": "1dd20540-fd66-4a61-8ba0-f1d2e6bde12c", "slug": "there-is-only", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-s-burroughs/naked-lunch/there-is-only", "text": "There is only one thing a writer can write about: what is in front of his senses at the moment of writing... I am a recording instrument... I do not presume to impose \"story \"plot\" \"continuity\"... Insofar as I succeed in Direct recording of certain areas of psychic process I may have limited function... I am not an entertainer.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William S. Burroughs", "slug": "william-s-burroughs", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-s-burroughs" }, "book": { "title": "Naked Lunch", "slug": "naked-lunch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-s-burroughs/naked-lunch" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_S._Burroughs#Naked_Lunch_(1959)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:46" }, { "id": "c3280e36-ea3d-419d-9fde-9abbade03adb", "slug": "in-this-world", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/umberto-eco/the-mysterious-flame-of-queen-loana/in-this-world", "text": "In this world you either read or write, and writers write out of contempt for their colleagues, out of a desire to have something good to read once in a while.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Umberto Eco", "slug": "umberto-eco", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/umberto-eco" }, "book": { "title": "The Mysterious Flame Of Queen Loana", "slug": "the-mysterious-flame-of-queen-loana", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/umberto-eco/the-mysterious-flame-of-queen-loana" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Umberto_Eco#The_Mysterious_Flame_of_Queen_Loana_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:39" }, { "id": "b6be1c46-757f-4a75-abfb-44eea3cbc484", "slug": "im-writing-this", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac/visions-of-cody/im-writing-this", "text": "I'm writing this book because we're all going to die — In the loneliness of my life, my father dead, my brother dead, my mother far away, my sister and my wife far away, nothing here but my own tragic hands that once were guarded by a world, a sweet attention, that now are left to guide and disappear their own way into the common dark of all our death, sleeping in me raw bed, alone and stupid...", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jack Kerouac", "slug": "jack-kerouac", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac" }, "book": { "title": "Visions of Cody", "slug": "visions-of-cody", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac/visions-of-cody" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "death", "slug": "death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death" }, { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_Kerouac#Visions_of_Cody_(1960)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:32" }, { "id": "27be6c0b-0540-43b7-91e5-89bcd9386c39", "slug": "alec-to-be-able", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/job-a-comedy-of-justice/alec-to-be-able", "text": "Alec, to be able to read and write is as wonderful as sex. Or almost.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert A. Heinlein", "slug": "robert-a-heinlein", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein" }, "book": { "title": "Job: A Comedy of Justice", "slug": "job-a-comedy-of-justice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/job-a-comedy-of-justice" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 420, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Job:_A_Comedy_of_Justice#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:21" }, { "id": "e1075c82-0ade-41ae-9071-cea0d0df58b0", "slug": "a-woman-must", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virginia-woolf/a-room-of-ones-own/a-woman-must", "text": "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Virginia Woolf", "slug": "virginia-woolf", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virginia-woolf" }, "book": { "title": "A Room of One's Own", "slug": "a-room-of-ones-own", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virginia-woolf/a-room-of-ones-own" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 4, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "women", "slug": "women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women" }, { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf#A_Room_of_One's_Own_(1929)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:16" }, { "id": "14461661-5136-4f05-b6bf-fe1aa217bb22", "slug": "my-belief-is-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virginia-woolf/a-room-of-ones-own/my-belief-is-that", "text": "My belief is that if we live another century or so — I am talking of the common life which is the real life and not of the little separate lives which we live as individuals — and have five hundred a year each of us and rooms of our own; if we have the habit of freedom and the courage to write exactly what we think; if we escape a little from the common sitting-room and see human beings not always in their relation to each other but in relation to reality; and the sky, too, and the trees or whatever it may be in themselves; if we look past Milton's bogey, for no human being should shut out the view; if we face the fact, for it is a fact, that there is no arm to cling to, but that we go alone and that our relation is to the world of reality and not only to the world of men and women, then the opportunity will come and the dead poet who was Shakespeare's sister will put on the body which she has so often laid down. Drawing her life from the lives of the unknown who were her forerunners, as her brother did before her, she will be born. As for her coming without that preparation, without that effort on our part, without that determination that when she is born again she shall find it possible to live and write her poetry, that we cannot expect, for that would be impossible. But I maintain that she would come if we worked for her, and that so to work, even in poverty and obscurity, is worth while.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Virginia Woolf", "slug": "virginia-woolf", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virginia-woolf" }, "book": { "title": "A Room of One's Own", "slug": "a-room-of-ones-own", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virginia-woolf/a-room-of-ones-own" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 117, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "women", "slug": "women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf#A_Room_of_One's_Own_(1929)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:16" }, { "id": "e059060f-7510-4de0-8692-b31a22b255ab", "slug": "let-us-record", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virginia-woolf/the-common-reader-volume-1/let-us-record", "text": "Let us record the atoms as they fall upon the mind in the order in which they fall, let us trace the pattern, however disconnected and incoherent in appearance, which each sight or incident scores upon the consciousness.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Virginia Woolf", "slug": "virginia-woolf", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virginia-woolf" }, "book": { "title": "The Common Reader: Volume 1", "slug": "the-common-reader-volume-1", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virginia-woolf/the-common-reader-volume-1" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "consciousness", "slug": "consciousness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/consciousness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf#The_Common_Reader_(1925)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:14" }, { "id": "4374837a-a357-4a87-a05f-ce3d793562e1", "slug": "examine-for-a-moment", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virginia-woolf/the-common-reader-volume-1/examine-for-a-moment", "text": "Examine for a moment an ordinary mind on an ordinary day. The mind receives a myriad impressions — trivial, fantastic, evanescent, or engraved with the sharpness of steel. From all sides they come, an incessant shower of innumerable atoms; and as they fall, as they shape themselves into the life of Monday or Tuesday, the accent falls differently from of old; the moment of importance came not here but there; so that, if a writer were a free man and not a slave, if he could write what he chose, not what he must, if he could base his work upon his own feeling and not upon convention, there would be no plot, no comedy, no tragedy, no love interest or catastrophe in the accepted style, and perhaps not a single button sewn on as the Bond Street tailors would have it. Life is not a series of gig-lamps symmetrically arranged; life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end. Is it not the task of the novelist to convey this varying, this unknown and uncircumscribed spirit, whatever aberration or complexity it may display, with as little mixture of the alien and external as possible? We are not pleading merely for courage and sincerity; we are suggesting that the proper stuff of fiction is a little other than custom would have us believe it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Virginia Woolf", "slug": "virginia-woolf", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virginia-woolf" }, "book": { "title": "The Common Reader: Volume 1", "slug": "the-common-reader-volume-1", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/virginia-woolf/the-common-reader-volume-1" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf#The_Common_Reader_(1925)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:14" }, { "id": "efd1daf5-e9ae-4417-9a45-ea7fe3fa6c99", "slug": "an-autobiography-is-obituary", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp/the-naked-civil-servant/an-autobiography-is-obituary", "text": "An autobiography is obituary in serial form with the last installment missing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Quentin Crisp", "slug": "quentin-crisp", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp" }, "book": { "title": "The Naked Civil Servant", "slug": "the-naked-civil-servant", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp/the-naked-civil-servant" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "death", "slug": "death", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Quentin_Crisp#The_Naked_Civil_Servant_(1968)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:11" }, { "id": "10b655e9-a659-4eab-9d96-9dd1dec130c9", "slug": "we-think-we-write", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp/the-naked-civil-servant/we-think-we-write", "text": "We think we write definitively of those parts of our nature that are dead and therefore beyond change, but that which writes is still changing — still in doubt. Even a monotonously undeviating path of self-examination does not necessarily lead to self-knowledge. I stumble towards my grave confused and hurt and hungry.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Quentin Crisp", "slug": "quentin-crisp", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp" }, "book": { "title": "The Naked Civil Servant", "slug": "the-naked-civil-servant", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp/the-naked-civil-servant" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "self-knowledge", "slug": "self-knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-knowledge" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Quentin_Crisp#The_Naked_Civil_Servant_(1968)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:11" }, { "id": "54b625a2-b529-4c7a-a88d-e2aa5dc46aac", "slug": "no-writing-has", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eleanor-roosevelt/my-day/no-writing-has", "text": "No writing has any real value which is not the expression of genuine thought and feeling. (20 December 1939)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Eleanor Roosevelt", "slug": "eleanor-roosevelt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eleanor-roosevelt" }, "book": { "title": "My Day", "slug": "my-day", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eleanor-roosevelt/my-day" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "honesty", "slug": "honesty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/honesty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eleanor_Roosevelt#My_Day_(1935%E2%80%931962)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:57" }, { "id": "bb5d0424-1bf3-4132-bbd0-056c9831da41", "slug": "looking-back-on", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/heretics-of-dune/looking-back-on", "text": "Looking back on it, I realize I did the right thing instinctively. You don't write for success. That takes part of your attention away from the writing. If you're really doing it, that's all you're doing: writing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Frank Herbert", "slug": "frank-herbert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert" }, "book": { "title": "Heretics of Dune", "slug": "heretics-of-dune", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/heretics-of-dune" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "success and failure", "slug": "success-and-failure", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/success-and-failure" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dune#Heretics_of_Dune_(1984)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:54" }, { "id": "879aa5d1-8ca4-4631-b251-e21bad497294", "slug": "when-i-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/heretics-of-dune/when-i-was", "text": "When I was writing Dune there was no room in my mind for concerns about the book's success or failure. I was concerned only with the writing. Six years of research had preceded the day I sat down to put the story together, and the interweaving of the many plot layers I had planned required a degree of concentration I had never before experienced.\n\nIt was to be a story exploring the myth of the Messiah.\n\nIt was to produce another view of a human-occupied planet as an energy machine.\n\nIt was to penetrate the interlocked workings of politics and economics.\n\nIt was to be an examination of absolute prediction and its pitfalls.\n\nIt was to have an awareness drug in it and tell what could happen through dependence on such a substance.\n\nPotable water was to be an analog for oil and for water itself, a substance whose supply diminishes each day.\n\nIt was to be an ecological novel, then, with many overtones, as well as a story about people and their human concerns with human values, and I had to monitor each of these levels at every stage in the book.\n\nThere wasn't room in my head to think about much else.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Frank Herbert", "slug": "frank-herbert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert" }, "book": { "title": "Heretics of Dune", "slug": "heretics-of-dune", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/heretics-of-dune" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dune#Heretics_of_Dune_(1984)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:54" }, { "id": "6ce7b889-64af-4958-b8d1-deed4554b48e", "slug": "theres-an-unwritten", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/heretics-of-dune/theres-an-unwritten", "text": "There's an unwritten compact between you and the reader. If someone enters a bookstore and sets down hard earned money (energy) for your book, you owe that person some entertainment and as much more as you can give.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Frank Herbert", "slug": "frank-herbert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert" }, "book": { "title": "Heretics of Dune", "slug": "heretics-of-dune", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/heretics-of-dune" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "reading", "slug": "reading", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dune#Heretics_of_Dune_(1984)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:54" }, { "id": "3f407d07-994c-4975-a20c-91c43e61651e", "slug": "one-often-hears", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick/one-often-hears", "text": "One often hears of writers that rise and swell with their subject, though it may seem but an ordinary one. How, then, with me, writing of this Leviathan? Unconsciously my chirography expands into placard capitals. Give me a condor's quill! Give me Vesuvius' crater for an inkstand! Friends, hold my arms! For in the mere act of penning my thoughts of this Leviathan, they weary me, and make me faint with their outreaching comprehensiveness of sweep, as if to include the whole circle of the sciences, and all the generations of whales, and men, and mastodons, past, present, and to come, with all the revolving panoramas of empire on earth, and throughout the whole universe, not excluding its suburbs. Such, and so magnifying, is the virtue of a large and liberal theme! We expand to its bulk. To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be who have tried it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Herman Melville", "slug": "herman-melville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville" }, "book": { "title": "Moby-Dick", "slug": "moby-dick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 507, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Moby-Dick#The_Fossil_Whale_(104)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:41" }, { "id": "c29652aa-b1b2-41a8-b2cb-6353b943cfed", "slug": "someone-told-me-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-w-hawking/a-brief-history-of-time/someone-told-me-that", "text": "Someone told me that each equation I included in the book would halve the sales. I therefore resolved not to have any equations at all. In the end, however, I did put in one equation, Einstein's famous equation, . I hope that this will not scare off half of my potential readers.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen W. Hawking", "slug": "stephen-w-hawking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-w-hawking" }, "book": { "title": "A Brief History of Time", "slug": "a-brief-history-of-time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-w-hawking/a-brief-history-of-time" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "mathematics", "slug": "mathematics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mathematics" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking#A_Brief_History_of_Time_(1988)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:31" }, { "id": "f323f38d-1b11-42e2-a65b-16397b5f01a0", "slug": "the-longer-he-practised", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/morris-west/lazarus/the-longer-he-practised", "text": "The longer he practised his craft, the more conscious he became of the dynamic of language, of speech and writing as events in themselves. The simplest and most obvious proposition, stated in the most elementary language, could so mutate itself in the mind of the reader that it could express the opposite of what the writer had intended. What he wrote as evidence for the defence could hang the man he was defending.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Morris West", "slug": "morris-west", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/morris-west" }, "book": { "title": "Lazarus", "slug": "lazarus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/morris-west/lazarus" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "language", "slug": "language", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Morris_West#Lazarus_(1990)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:30" }, { "id": "c9e2fe9b-2d30-4d06-a9b2-1c83e80306e4", "slug": "paper-they-say", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/fyodor-dostoyevsky/the-brothers-karamazov/paper-they-say", "text": "Paper, they say, does not blush, but I assure you it's not true and that it's blushing just as I am now, all over.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Fyodor Dostoyevsky", "slug": "fyodor-dostoyevsky", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/fyodor-dostoyevsky" }, "book": { "title": "The Brothers Karamazov", "slug": "the-brothers-karamazov", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/fyodor-dostoyevsky/the-brothers-karamazov" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "shame", "slug": "shame", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/shame" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoyevsky#The_Brothers_Karamazov_(1879%E2%80%931880)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:24" }, { "id": "b740eded-74ae-45f7-a6c1-b932ea6b8890", "slug": "he-was-demonstrating", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/trigger-warning-short-fictions-and-disturbances/he-was-demonstrating", "text": "He was demonstrating to the world the writing was a craft, that it was not an act of magic.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Neil Gaiman", "slug": "neil-gaiman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman" }, "book": { "title": "Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances", "slug": "trigger-warning-short-fictions-and-disturbances", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/trigger-warning-short-fictions-and-disturbances" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Neil_Gaiman#Trigger_Warning_(2015)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:14" }, { "id": "1e899d1b-0fd8-47a8-86bd-c069836d4c50", "slug": "another-old-fashioned-practice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris/theft-by-finding/another-old-fashioned-practice", "text": "Another old-fashioned practice I maintain is carrying a notebook, a small one I keep in my shirt pocket and never leave the house without. In it I register all the little things that strike me, not in great detail but just quickly. The following morning I'll review what I jotted down and look for the most meaningful moment in the previous day, the one in which I felt truly present.\n\nIt's worth mentioning that this is my edit. It wasn't easy revisiting what are now 156 volumes of my diary.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Sedaris", "slug": "david-sedaris", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris" }, "book": { "title": "Theft by Finding", "slug": "theft-by-finding", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris/theft-by-finding" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 6, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "memory", "slug": "memory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/memory" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Sedaris#Theft_by_Finding:_Diaries,_Volume_1_(1977-2002)_(2017)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:59" }, { "id": "0796d6cb-cabb-4fa5-b9be-43472c4335af", "slug": "after-coming-home", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris/theft-by-finding/after-coming-home", "text": "After coming home, I listened to the radio and cleaned up a little. A woman on All Things Considered wrote a book of advice called If You Want to Write and mentioned the importance of keeping a diary. It was valuable, she said, because after a while you'd stop being forced and pretentious and become honest and unafraid of your thoughts.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Sedaris", "slug": "david-sedaris", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris" }, "book": { "title": "Theft by Finding", "slug": "theft-by-finding", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris/theft-by-finding" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 94, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "honesty", "slug": "honesty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/honesty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Sedaris#Theft_by_Finding:_Diaries,_Volume_1_(1977-2002)_(2017)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:59" }, { "id": "81f53d05-f83d-477d-ba19-7973b0cc6f26", "slug": "shes-afraid-to-tell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris/dress-your-family-in-corduroy-and-denim/shes-afraid-to-tell", "text": "She's afraid to tell me anything important, knowing I'll only turn around and write about it. In my mind, I'm like a friendly junkman, building things from the little pieces of scrap I find here and there, but my family's started to see things differently. Their personal lives are the so-called pieces of scrap I so casually pick up, and they're sick of it. More and more often their stories begin with the line \"You have to swear you will never repeat this.\" I always promise, but it's generally understood that my word means nothing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Sedaris", "slug": "david-sedaris", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris" }, "book": { "title": "Dress Your Family In Corduroy And Denim", "slug": "dress-your-family-in-corduroy-and-denim", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris/dress-your-family-in-corduroy-and-denim" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 147, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "family", "slug": "family", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/family" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Sedaris#Dress_Your_Family_in_Corduroy_and_Denim_(2004)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:58" }, { "id": "2cf4922b-996a-4ee0-96f2-d1e1b57ecd57", "slug": "once-we-reject", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/the-trouble-with-being-born/once-we-reject", "text": "Once we reject lyricism, to blacken a page becomes an ordeal: what's the use of writing in order to say exactly what we had to say?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Emil Cioran", "slug": "emil-cioran", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran" }, "book": { "title": "The Trouble With Being Born", "slug": "the-trouble-with-being-born", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/the-trouble-with-being-born" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emil_Cioran#The_Trouble_With_Being_Born_(1973)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:41" }, { "id": "72b90719-a3d1-4891-8a5d-ad0676ca60c7", "slug": "emile-does-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/emile-does-not", "text": "Emile does not want to write books; if ever he did so, it would not be to pay court to those in authority, but to establish the rights of humanity.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_V", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:38" }, { "id": "1c62d568-e305-4fe3-b28a-f2f3653844f6", "slug": "to-know-what", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/to-know-what", "text": "To know what people may find pleasant or unpleasant is not only necessary to any one who requires their help, it is still more necessary to any one who would help them; you must please them if you would do them service; and the art of writing is no idle pursuit if it is used to make men hear the truth.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "helping others", "slug": "helping-others", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/helping-others" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_IV", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:36" }, { "id": "88e41a36-a614-48f7-804f-039a91ea1f32", "slug": "habits-in-writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/the-summing-up/habits-in-writing", "text": "... habits in writing as in life are only useful if they are broken as soon as they cease to be advantageous.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Somerset Maugham", "slug": "william-somerset-maugham", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham" }, "book": { "title": "The Summing Up", "slug": "the-summing-up", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/the-summing-up" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 182, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "habits", "slug": "habits", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/habits" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#The_Summing_Up_(1938)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:28" }, { "id": "7e5908e0-0cc4-407f-920d-6357d3eb23c3", "slug": "the-writer-of-prose", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale/the-writer-of-prose", "text": "The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes...", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Somerset Maugham", "slug": "william-somerset-maugham", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham" }, "book": { "title": "Cakes And Ale", "slug": "cakes-and-ale", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 184, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "poetry", "slug": "poetry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poetry" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#Cakes_and_Ale:_Or,_The_Skeleton_in_the_Cupboard_(1930)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:27" }, { "id": "b8e5c54b-33cc-400e-bcb2-13acfc267563", "slug": "writing-long-books", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jorge-luis-borges/the-garden-of-forking-paths/writing-long-books", "text": "Writing long books is a laborious and impoverishing act of foolishness: expanding in five hundred pages an idea that could be perfectly explained in a few minutes. A better procedure is to pretend that those books already exist and to offer a summary, a commentary.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jorge Luis Borges", "slug": "jorge-luis-borges", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jorge-luis-borges" }, "book": { "title": "The Garden of Forking Paths", "slug": "the-garden-of-forking-paths", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jorge-luis-borges/the-garden-of-forking-paths" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges#The_Garden_of_Forking_Paths_(1942)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:19" }, { "id": "9d3b51a7-87be-4702-815d-ad5516eb9e33", "slug": "tsui-pe-must", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jorge-luis-borges/the-garden-of-forking-paths/tsui-pe-must", "text": "Ts'ui Pe must have said once: I am withdrawing to write a book. And another time: I am withdrawing to construct a labyrinth. Every one imagined two works; to no one did it occur that the book and the maze were one and the same thing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jorge Luis Borges", "slug": "jorge-luis-borges", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jorge-luis-borges" }, "book": { "title": "The Garden of Forking Paths", "slug": "the-garden-of-forking-paths", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jorge-luis-borges/the-garden-of-forking-paths" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "secrets", "slug": "secrets", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/secrets" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges#The_Garden_of_Forking_Paths", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:19" }, { "id": "a3c714a6-b436-45f2-8642-2f746fcfcff2", "slug": "of-all-types", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/keep-the-aspidistra-flying/of-all-types", "text": "Of all types of human being, only the artist takes it upon himself to say that he 'cannot' work. But it is quite true; there ARE times when one cannot work. Money again, always money! Lack of money means discomfort, means squalid worries, means shortage of tobacco, means ever-present consciousness of failure - above all, it means loneliness. How can you be anything but lonely on two quid a week? And in loneliness no decent book was ever written.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "Keep the Aspidistra Flying", "slug": "keep-the-aspidistra-flying", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/keep-the-aspidistra-flying" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Orwell#Keep_the_Aspidistra_Flying_(1936)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:10" }, { "id": "751a7933-8835-49d3-90f0-0dbe8f36d51c", "slug": "there-is-only", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london/there-is-only", "text": "There is only one way to make money at writing, and that is to marry a publisher's daughter.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "Down and Out in Paris and London", "slug": "down-and-out-in-paris-and-london", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Orwell#Down_and_Out_in_Paris_and_London_(1933)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:09" }, { "id": "d5a2792a-35e0-4772-b12f-cab90ccf9c95", "slug": "youre-going-to-write", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/islands-in-the-stream/youre-going-to-write", "text": "'You're going to write straight and simple and good now. That's the start.'\n\n'What if I'm not straight and simple and good? Do you think I can write that way?'\n\n'Write how you are but make it straight.'", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "Islands in the Stream", "slug": "islands-in-the-stream", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/islands-in-the-stream" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#Islands_in_the_Stream_(1970)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:07" }, { "id": "c2bcf6b7-837d-444e-a666-fe7bc1dc5795", "slug": "then-i-started", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/a-moveable-feast/then-i-started", "text": "Then I started to think in Lipp's about when I had first been able to write a story about losing everything. It was up in Cortina d'Ampezzo when I had come back to join Hadley there after the spring skiing which I had to interrupt to go on assignment to Rhineland and the Ruhr. It was a very simple story called \"Out of Season\" and I had omitted the real end of it which was that the old man hanged himself. This was omitted on my new theory that you could omit anything if you knew that you omitted and the omitted part would strengthen the story and make people feel something more than they understood.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "A Moveable Feast", "slug": "a-moveable-feast", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/a-moveable-feast" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#A_Moveable_Feast_(1964)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:07" }, { "id": "62020125-33e6-4e80-884d-fee8132da058", "slug": "i-would-stand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/a-moveable-feast/i-would-stand", "text": "I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, \"Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "A Moveable Feast", "slug": "a-moveable-feast", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/a-moveable-feast" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "truth", "slug": "truth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#A_Moveable_Feast_(1964)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:07" }, { "id": "eebb71a0-8842-4802-9f60-16997fbc6211", "slug": "when-writing-a-novel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/death-in-the-afternoon/when-writing-a-novel", "text": "When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "Death in the Afternoon", "slug": "death-in-the-afternoon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/death-in-the-afternoon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#Death_in_the_Afternoon_(1932)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:05" }, { "id": "e7998b4d-cbfa-411c-bb43-ee5f16da4daa", "slug": "a-serious-writer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/death-in-the-afternoon/a-serious-writer", "text": "A serious writer is not to be confused with a solemn writer. A serious writer may be a hawk or a buzzard or even a popinjay, but a solemn writer is always a bloody owl.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "Death in the Afternoon", "slug": "death-in-the-afternoon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/death-in-the-afternoon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#Death_in_the_Afternoon_(1932)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:05" }, { "id": "cc9f167e-d047-477b-bf74-7cde472377c0", "slug": "all-modern-american", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/green-hills-of-africa/all-modern-american", "text": "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. If you read it you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating. But it's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "Green Hills of Africa", "slug": "green-hills-of-africa", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/green-hills-of-africa" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#Green_Hills_of_Africa_(1935)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:05" }, { "id": "b41c27aa-5a72-4a92-8e89-7f5dd7863518", "slug": "if-a-writer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/death-in-the-afternoon/if-a-writer", "text": "If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows, and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things only because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "Death in the Afternoon", "slug": "death-in-the-afternoon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/death-in-the-afternoon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#Death_in_the_Afternoon_(1932)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:05" }, { "id": "a3ab4739-9700-458d-bfdf-7109faea43cf", "slug": "the-great-thing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/death-in-the-afternoon/the-great-thing", "text": "The great thing is to last and get your work done and see and hear and learn and understand; and write when there is something that you know; and not before; and not too damned much after.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "Death in the Afternoon", "slug": "death-in-the-afternoon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/death-in-the-afternoon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#Death_in_the_Afternoon_(1932)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:05" }, { "id": "61d18cab-1810-43cf-87ea-c92f4ae21cf7", "slug": "i-have-a-good", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/green-hills-of-africa/i-have-a-good", "text": "I have a good life but I must write because if I do not write a certain amount I do not enjoy the rest of my life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "Green Hills of Africa", "slug": "green-hills-of-africa", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/green-hills-of-africa" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#Green_Hills_of_Africa_(1935)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:05" }, { "id": "4895bd05-52e2-4940-9d60-f165ee551318", "slug": "dostoevsky-was-made", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/green-hills-of-africa/dostoevsky-was-made", "text": "Dostoevsky was made by being sent to Siberia. Writers are forged in injustice as a sword is forged.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "Green Hills of Africa", "slug": "green-hills-of-africa", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/green-hills-of-africa" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#Green_Hills_of_Africa_(1935)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:05" }, { "id": "ff26a676-f156-4bd7-a4ec-9d3ab2efb16f", "slug": "remember-this-too", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/death-in-the-afternoon/remember-this-too", "text": "Remember this too: all bad writers are in love with the epic.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "Death in the Afternoon", "slug": "death-in-the-afternoon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/death-in-the-afternoon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#Death_in_the_Afternoon_(1932)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:04" }, { "id": "0103e729-f6f2-4019-9511-588deca9fb1e", "slug": "prose-is-architecture", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/death-in-the-afternoon/prose-is-architecture", "text": "Prose is architecture, not interior decoration, and the Baroque is over.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "Death in the Afternoon", "slug": "death-in-the-afternoon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/death-in-the-afternoon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#Death_in_the_Afternoon_(1932)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:04" }, { "id": "8d8d32bd-a3ad-4702-8659-7d852beef13a", "slug": "it-is-very", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/the-torrents-of-spring/it-is-very", "text": "It is very hard to write this way, beginning things backward, and the author hopes the reader will realize this and not grudge this little word of explanation. I know I would be very glad to read anything the reader ever wrote, and I hope the reader will make the same sort of allowances. If any of the readers would care to send me anything they ever wrote, for criticism or advice, I am always at the Café du Dôme any afternoon, talking about Art with Harold Stearns and Sinclair Lewis, and the reader can bring his stuff along with him, or he can send it to me care of my bank, if I have a bank.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ernest Hemingway", "slug": "ernest-hemingway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway" }, "book": { "title": "The Torrents Of Spring", "slug": "the-torrents-of-spring", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/the-torrents-of-spring" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway#The_Torrents_of_Spring_(1926)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:03" }, { "id": "d086c7f2-1c98-469a-9075-9df884b10932", "slug": "a-man-does", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/em-forster/aspects-of-the-novel/a-man-does", "text": "A man does not talk to himself quite truly — not even to himself: the happiness or misery that he secretly feels proceeds from causes that he cannot quite explain, because as soon as he raises them to the level of the explicable they lose their native quality. The novelist has a real pull here. He can show the subconscious short-circuiting straight into action (the dramatist can do this too); he can also show it in its relation to soliloquy. He commands all the secret life, and he must not be robbed of this privilege. \"How did the writer know that?\" it is sometimes said. \"What's his standpoint? He is not being consistent, he's shifting his point of view from the limited to the omniscient, and now he's edging back again.\" Questions like this have too much the atmosphere of the law courts about them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "E.M. Forster", "slug": "em-forster", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/em-forster" }, "book": { "title": "Aspects of the Novel", "slug": "aspects-of-the-novel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/em-forster/aspects-of-the-novel" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/E._M._Forster#Aspects_of_the_Novel_(1927)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:01" }, { "id": "b79f3478-66a9-4082-b8e9-01338448bcaa", "slug": "my-ideas-flow", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/pride-and-prejudice/my-ideas-flow", "text": "\"My ideas flow so rapidly that I have not time to express theml by which means my letters sometimes convey no ideas at all to my correspondents.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jane Austen", "slug": "jane-austen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen" }, "book": { "title": "Pride and Prejudice", "slug": "pride-and-prejudice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jane-austen/pride-and-prejudice" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice#Chapters_1-10", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:51" }, { "id": "aaca9315-2a55-4e32-81dd-76c07aecb437", "slug": "i-have-one", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-swift/a-tale-of-a-tub/i-have-one", "text": "I have one word to say upon the subject of profound writers, who are grown very numerous of late; and I know very well the judicious world is resolved to list me in that number. I conceive therefore, as to the business of being profound, that it is with writers as with wells - a person with good eyes may see to the bottom of the deepest, provided any water be there: and often when there is nothing in the world at the bottom besides dryness and dirt, though it be but a yard and a-half under-ground, it shall pass, however, for wondrous deep upon no wiser reason than because it is wondrous dark", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jonathan Swift", "slug": "jonathan-swift", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-swift" }, "book": { "title": "A Tale of a Tub", "slug": "a-tale-of-a-tub", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-swift/a-tale-of-a-tub" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "appearances", "slug": "appearances", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/appearances" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonathan_Swift#A_Tale_of_a_Tub_(1704)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:49" }, { "id": "1366bbc3-dc19-4532-9be1-0ff43cfc3c31", "slug": "there-are-certain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-swift/a-tale-of-a-tub/there-are-certain", "text": "There are certain common privileges of a writer, the benefit whereof, I hope, there will be no reason to doubt; particularly, that where I am not understood, it shall be concluded, that something very useful and profound is couched underneath; and again, that whatever word or sentence is printed in a different character, shall be judged to contain something extraordinary either of wit or sublime.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jonathan Swift", "slug": "jonathan-swift", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-swift" }, "book": { "title": "A Tale of a Tub", "slug": "a-tale-of-a-tub", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-swift/a-tale-of-a-tub" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonathan_Swift#A_Tale_of_a_Tub_(1704)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:49" }, { "id": "a65efe7b-65a6-408e-9c28-3434a315b5a6", "slug": "o-thou-who", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-carlyle/sartor-resartus/o-thou-who", "text": "O thou who art able to write a Book, which once in the two centuries or oftener there is a man gifted to do, envy not him whom they name City-builder, and inexpressibly pity him whom they name Conqueror or City-burner! Thou too art a Conqueror and Victor; but of the true sort, namely over the Devil: thou too hast built what will outlast all marble and metal, and be a wonder-bringing City of the Mind, a Temple and Seminary and Prophetic Mount, whereto all kindreds of the Earth will pilgrim.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Carlyle", "slug": "thomas-carlyle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-carlyle" }, "book": { "title": "Sartor Resartus", "slug": "sartor-resartus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-carlyle/sartor-resartus" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Carlyle#Sartor_Resartus_(1833%E2%80%931834)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:44" }, { "id": "f327f137-3d05-455f-834e-571b45ebdb37", "slug": "it-takes-a-spasm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/erica-jong/how-to-save-your-own-life/it-takes-a-spasm", "text": "It takes a spasm of love to write a poem.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Erica Jong", "slug": "erica-jong", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/erica-jong" }, "book": { "title": "How to Save Your Own Life", "slug": "how-to-save-your-own-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/erica-jong/how-to-save-your-own-life" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "poetry", "slug": "poetry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poetry" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erica_Jong#How_to_Save_Your_Own_Life_(1977)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:40" }, { "id": "f18557ef-e77c-47fd-95bb-ed48ee5f1f39", "slug": "the-men-who", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/g-chesterton/heretics/the-men-who", "text": "The men who have really been the bold artists, the realistic artists, the uncompromising artists, are the men who have turned out, after all, to be writing \"with a purpose.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "G. Chesterton", "slug": "g-chesterton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/g-chesterton" }, "book": { "title": "Heretics", "slug": "heretics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/g-chesterton/heretics" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "art", "slug": "art", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art" }, { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Heretics_(book)#Chapter_XX:_%22Concluding_Remarks_on_the_Importance_of_Orthodoxy%22", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:35" }, { "id": "97f5c1c0-4838-4cf3-9866-69047215c901", "slug": "a-good-novel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/g-chesterton/heretics/a-good-novel", "text": "A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "G. Chesterton", "slug": "g-chesterton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/g-chesterton" }, "book": { "title": "Heretics", "slug": "heretics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/g-chesterton/heretics" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Heretics_(book)#Chapter_XV:_%22On_Smart_Novelists_and_the_Smart_Set%22", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:35" }, { "id": "142e7037-3c34-429f-a466-9b62fcc64723", "slug": "it-is-in-this", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-stuart-mill/autobiography/it-is-in-this", "text": "It is in this way that all my books have been composed. They were always written at least twice over; a first draft of the entire work was completed to the very end of the subject, then the whole begun again de novo; but incorporating, in the second writing, all sentences and parts of sentences of the old draft, which appeared as suitable to my purpose as anything which I could write in lieu of them. I have found great advantages in this system of double redaction. It combines, better than any other mode of composition, the freshness and vigour of the first conception, with the superior precision and completeness resulting from prolonged thought. In my own case, moreover, I have found that the patience necessary for a careful elaboration of the details of composition and expression, costs much less effort after the entire subject has been once gone through, and the substance of all that I find to say has in some manner, however imperfect, been got upon paper.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Stuart Mill", "slug": "john-stuart-mill", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-stuart-mill" }, "book": { "title": "Autobiography", "slug": "autobiography", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-stuart-mill/autobiography" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 222, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill#Ch._7:_General_View_of_the_Remainder_of_My_Life.", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:32" }, { "id": "57463efa-4923-4329-b617-d1508a8e95f4", "slug": "mere-newspaper-articles", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-stuart-mill/autobiography/mere-newspaper-articles", "text": "Mere newspaper articles on the occurrences or questions of the moment, gave no opportunity for the development of any general mode of thought; but I attempted, in the beginning of 1831, to embody in a series of articles, headed \"The Spirit of the Age,\" some of my new opinions, and especially to point out in the character of the present age, the anomalies and evils characteristic of the transition from a system of opinions which had worn out, to another only in process of being formed. These articles were, I fancy, lumbering in style, and not lively or striking enough to be at any time, acceptable to newspaper readers; but had they been far more attractive, still, at that particular moment, when great political changes were impending, and engrossing all minds, these discussions were ill-timed, and missed fire altogether. The only effect which I know to have been produced by them, was that Carlyle, then living in a secluded part of Scotland, read them in his solitude, and saying to himself (as he afterwards told me) \"here is a new Mystic,\" inquired on coming to London that autumn respecting their authorship; an inquiry which was the immediate cause of our becoming personally acquainted.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Stuart Mill", "slug": "john-stuart-mill", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-stuart-mill" }, "book": { "title": "Autobiography", "slug": "autobiography", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-stuart-mill/autobiography" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 173, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill#Ch._5:_A_Crisis_in_My_Mental_History._One_Stage_Onward.", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:31" }, { "id": "479b93b0-5938-43b6-a716-cbc61abbf3c3", "slug": "writing-a-book", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dorothy-parker/dorothy-parker-poems/writing-a-book", "text": "Writing a book for the Follies seems to be about as profitable an occupation as furnishing flannel petticoats for the showgirls. p. 151", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Dorothy Parker", "slug": "dorothy-parker", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dorothy-parker" }, "book": { "title": "Dorothy Parker: Poems", "slug": "dorothy-parker-poems", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dorothy-parker/dorothy-parker-poems" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dorothy_Parker#Chapter_3:_1920", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:29" }, { "id": "888406a6-120a-4eb0-868f-bd88b72f8d42", "slug": "this-book-had", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/the-carpet-people/this-book-had", "text": "This book had two authors, and they were both the same person.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Terry Pratchett", "slug": "terry-pratchett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett" }, "book": { "title": "The Carpet People", "slug": "the-carpet-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/the-carpet-people" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett#The_Carpet_People_(1971%3B_1992)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:26" }, { "id": "b3b4afd3-aacd-4bbd-a6f2-483b53eacd9b", "slug": "what-i-do-now", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-asimov/what-i-do-now", "text": "What I do now is think of a problem and a resolution to that problem. I then begin the story, making it up as I go along, having all the excitement of finding out what will happen to the characters and how they will get out of their scrapes, but working steadily toward the known resolution, so that I don’t get lost en route.\n\nWhen I asked for advice for beginners, I always stress that. Know your ending, I say, or the river of your story may finally sink into the desert sands and never reach the sea.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Isaac Asimov", "slug": "isaac-asimov", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov" }, "book": { "title": "I, Asimov", "slug": "i-asimov", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-asimov" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 49, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov#I._Asimov:_A_Memoir_(1994)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:25" }, { "id": "934522f2-c145-4980-bfb1-b474a5253327", "slug": "it-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-asimov/it-is-not", "text": "It is not very difficult to write for teenagers if you avoid thinking of them as children. I do not simplify my vocabulary for them, though I often add the pronunciations of the technical terms, merely to reduce the terror they inspire visually. I do avoid sentences that are too long and complex and I do not indulge in obscure illusions. What is lacking in a teenager is not intelligence or reasoning ability, but merely experience.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Isaac Asimov", "slug": "isaac-asimov", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov" }, "book": { "title": "I, Asimov", "slug": "i-asimov", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-asimov" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 525, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "youth", "slug": "youth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov#I._Asimov:_A_Memoir_(1994)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:25" }, { "id": "337ccc05-121a-4d73-9179-cb8e76971c05", "slug": "the-novels-i-have", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-asimov/the-novels-i-have", "text": "The novels I have been writing lately are the kind I wrote in the 1950s. (I have been criticized for this by some critics, but the day I pay attention to critics is the day the sky will fall.)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Isaac Asimov", "slug": "isaac-asimov", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov" }, "book": { "title": "I, Asimov", "slug": "i-asimov", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-asimov" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 77, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov#I._Asimov:_A_Memoir_(1994)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:25" }, { "id": "2f99d6b8-6d4e-4160-8dc6-0eb217b50b91", "slug": "in-writing-a-science", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-asimov/in-writing-a-science", "text": "In writing a science fiction novel, you must invent a futuristic social structure which is complex enough to be interesting in itself apart from the story and which is self-consistent. You must also invent a plot that works only within that social structure. The plot must develop without unduly obscuring the description of the social structure, and the social structure must be described without unduly slowing the plot.\n\nMaking a science fiction novel fulfill this double purpose is difficult even for an experienced and talented old hand such as myself. Every other kind of writing is easier than science fiction.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Isaac Asimov", "slug": "isaac-asimov", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov" }, "book": { "title": "I, Asimov", "slug": "i-asimov", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-asimov" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 265, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov#I._Asimov:_A_Memoir_(1994)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:38:25" }, { "id": "d1047341-e80c-47b3-b966-78f47bfe00d9", "slug": "a-character-is-never", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-rebel/a-character-is-never", "text": "A character is never the author who created him. It is quite likely, however, that an author may be all his characters simultaneously.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Albert Camus", "slug": "albert-camus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus" }, "book": { "title": "The Rebel", "slug": "the-rebel", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-camus/the-rebel" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 86, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Camus#The_Rebel_(1951)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:57" }, { "id": "bb7fbe40-9480-477a-9f18-123ef8c6fbb9", "slug": "many-of-my-friends", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-leacock/sunshine-sketches-of-a-little-town/many-of-my-friends", "text": "Many of my friends are under the impression that I write these humorous nothings in idle moments when the wearied brain is unable to perform the serious labours of the economist. My own experience is exactly the other way. The writing of solid, instructive stuff fortified by facts and figures is easy enough. There is no trouble in writing a scientific treatise on the folk-lore of Central China, or a statistical enquiry into the declining population of Prince Edward Island. But to write something out of one's own mind, worth reading for its own sake, is an arduous contrivance only to be achieved in fortunate moments, few and far between. Personally, I would sooner have written \"Alice in Wonderland\" than the whole Encyclopaedia Britannica.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen Leacock", "slug": "stephen-leacock", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-leacock" }, "book": { "title": "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town", "slug": "sunshine-sketches-of-a-little-town", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-leacock/sunshine-sketches-of-a-little-town" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Leacock#Sunshine_Sketches_of_a_Little_Town_(1912)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:50" }, { "id": "0534bd9c-fbda-48ad-af05-fa1d80e467c8", "slug": "of-course-pupkin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-leacock/sunshine-sketches-of-a-little-town/of-course-pupkin", "text": "Of course, Pupkin would never have thought of considering himself on an intellectual par with Mallory Tompkins. That would have been ridiculous. Mallory Tompkins had read all sorts of things and had half a mind to write a novel himself—either that or a play. All he needed, he said, was to have a chance to get away somewhere by himself and think. Every time he went away to the city Pupkin expected that he might return with the novel all finished; but though he often came back with his eyes red from thinking, the novel as yet remained incomplete.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stephen Leacock", "slug": "stephen-leacock", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-leacock" }, "book": { "title": "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town", "slug": "sunshine-sketches-of-a-little-town", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-leacock/sunshine-sketches-of-a-little-town" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Leacock#Sunshine_Sketches_of_a_Little_Town_(1912)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:50" }, { "id": "8aa64b8d-bb03-4873-aa64-b13ee908b45f", "slug": "when-one-writes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer/when-one-writes", "text": "When one writes a novel about grown people, he knows exactly where to stop—that is, with a marriage; but when he writes of juveniles, he must stop where he best can.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mark Twain", "slug": "mark-twain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain" }, "book": { "title": "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "slug": "the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "literature", "slug": "literature", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/literature" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tom_Sawyer#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:45" }, { "id": "7987d807-37e8-40ae-8368-d7e64b930e00", "slug": "i-have-over", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dave-barry/ill-mature-when-im-dead/i-have-over", "text": "I have, over the years, received in the mail approximately 17 million manuscripts from people whose goal is to become professional writers. They want me to discover them, encourage them, mentor them, find them an agent, etc. Some of these people have talent; some of them have actually become professional writers. But a great many of them will never become professional writers, because- follow me closely here- they are not good at writing. Of course I don't tell them that. Probably nobody will ever tell them that. They will continue to try and fail, and in the end they'll be bitter, like the early-round contestants on American Idol who think they got booted because Simon Cowell is mean, rather than because their singing sounds like a bull being castrated with a hockey stick. These contestants humiliated themselves on national TV because when they were growing up, loving to sing, always singing around the house, no thoughtful family member or caring friend ever had the kindness to put a hand on their shoulder and say, in a gentle and loving voice, \"You suck.\" They needed Simon Cowells, but instead they were surrounded by Randy Jacksons and Paula Abduls, trying to be nice, not wanting to hurt their feelings, and thus setting them up for failure.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Dave Barry", "slug": "dave-barry", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dave-barry" }, "book": { "title": "I'll Mature When I'm Dead", "slug": "ill-mature-when-im-dead", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dave-barry/ill-mature-when-im-dead" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 240, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "honesty", "slug": "honesty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/honesty" }, { "name": "talent", "slug": "talent", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/talent" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dave_Barry#I'll_Mature_When_I'm_Dead_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:41" } ] }