Famous Quotes About Writing and Writers

From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put. - Winston Churchill I wrote a few children’s books. Not on purpose. - Steven Wright I get a lot of letters from people. They say: “I want to be a writer. What should I do?” I tell them to stop writing to me and get on with it. - Ruth Rendell If writers were good businessmen, they’d have too much sense to be writers. - Irvin S. Cobb If Moses were alive today he’d come down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments and spend the next five years trying to get them published. - Anonymous If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers. - Doug Larson Writers don’t have lifestyles. They sit in little rooms and write. - Norman Mailer Learn to write. Never mind the damn statistics. If you like statistics, become a CPA. - Jim Murray The dubious privilege of a freelance writer is he’s given the freedom to starve anywhere. - S.J. Perelman Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. - Gene Fowler If you can’t annoy somebody, there’s little point in writing. - Kingsley Amis Real seriousness in regard to writing is one of two absolute necessities. The other, unfortunately, is talent. - Ernest Hemingway Writing is so difficult that I often feel that writers, having had their hell on earth, will escape all punishment thereafter. - Jessamyn West I was sorry to hear my name mentioned as one of the great authors, because they have a sad habit of dying off. Chaucer is dead, so is Milton, so is Shakespeare, and I am not feeling very well myself. - Mark Twain All autobiographies are alibi-ographies. - Clare Booth Luce The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. - Mary Heaton Vorse The world is a hellish place, and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering. - Tom Waits The average Ph.D. thesis is nothing but a transference of bones from one graveyard to another. - J. Frank Dobie An autobiography usually reveals nothing bad about its writer except his memory. - Franklin P. Jones Long, hard slog today writing the Great American Tweet. (That was it...what do you think? Pulitzer?) - Greg Tamblyn A bad review may spoil your breakfast, but you shouldn’t allow it to spoil your lunch. - Kingsley Amis Unless a reviewer has the courage to give you unqualified praise, I say ignore the bastard. - John Steinbeck Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost how it feels about dogs. - Christopher Hampton The only time I’ll get good reviews is if I kill myself. - Edward Albee As far as I’m concerned, “whom” is a word that was invented to make everyone sound like a butler. - Calvin Trillin Listen up, Internet: there is no “h” in “wacky.” Got that? THERE IS NO “H” IN “WACKY.” Thank you. - Dave Barry