Donna Tartt Quotes

The stubbornness I had as a child has been transmitted into perseverance. I can let go but I don't give up. I don't beat myself up about negative things.

We need energy, commitment, and courage not to run from our life nor to cover it over with any philosophy—material or spiritual.

Whether we stay or whether we go - to be courageous is to stay close to the way we are made.

I am not a special person, I am not especially strong; I am not especially gifted. I simply do not like to show my weakness, and I hate to lose, so I am a person who tries hard. That's all there is to me.

My goal was to be able to be alone without food, sugar, phone, men, TV, anything and to feel O.K. about myself.

I had to learn how to trust my gut. Trust what I know to be right... not right, but not waver on who I am. Know who I am, know what I want, and know it. Not waver on it and be secure in that. And I still struggle with it. But I really... I can't be moved. You can't move me, and that all comes with loving myself, and I'm like my best buddy.

Once you have been through a certain amount of things in life, you definitely grow more comfortable with yourself. To persevere and hang in there and believe in yourself.

I know who I am and I've always been comfortable in my own skin.

The depth of darkness to which you can descend and still live is an exact measure of the height to which you can aspire to reach.

One thing I've come to learn about myself is that I have to keep going.

If there's no inner peace, people can't give it to you. The husband can't give it to you. Your children can't give it to you. You have to give it to you.

I'm a damaged person, but I have hope and a will to not give up.

If I fall, I fall. I'll rise up like anybody else.

I master my doubts now. I have fun with them, they're my travelling companions.

There is something in me that makes me see things through.

I don't care what people think about me because I know I am more than all the pain and strife they hold inside.

Real life is the life that's in you, not your circumstances, like where you live or what job you have or who you're in relationship with.

If I'd been bright, I'd have realized that I was horribly uncomfortable, amazingly frustrated, and like any sensible person, I'd have quit. But it never occurred to me that I wouldn't be successful eventually.

I was a slightly overweight, spiky-fringed, rat's-tailed '80s girl who was just showing up. That's all I've ever really done to get here, just kept showing up. Even when I didn't want to. That's what I do.

Luke Cage isn't going to throw a pity party for himself. He literally says to himself, 'This is the world I'm in. These are the circumstances I have.' He's a self-made man. He's trying to continuously build, and that's what's interesting about him. He's a work in progress.

I think when someone knows who they are and is comfortable and confident with that, I think a lot of the typical, aesthetic things sort of fall by the wayside.

Accept what you cannot control.

I have accepted the fact that I don't work very quickly, that I have been rejected a lot as a writer, and that what I do is unusual, so I just have to accept the terms and that it's going to take longer. It is what it is.

I don't need to be told what I am or what I should do or if I beat this guy it means I'm good or if I lose to that guy it means I'm bad. I'm at peace with myself, and I know what I do every day in my training will speak for itself, and success will be a byproduct.

The way I look and the shape I am in, I've had so many people tell me, 'You'll never make it because of the way you look.' But that never stopped me - it may even have motivated me a little.