Aimee Bender Quotes

I think anything that anyone writes that's any good is going to have a lot of autobiography.

Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come by.

I try to keep in my mind the simple question: Am I trying to do good or make myself look good? Too many of our responsibilities get added to our plate when we are trying to please people, impress people, prove ourselves, acquire power, increase our prestige. All those motivations are about looking good more than doing good.

In the future, when something comes up, you tell exactly how it happened but write down for yourself the way you think it should have happened. Tell the truth and write the story. Then you won't get mixed up. It was the best advice Francie every got.

Yes, in all my research, the greatest leaders looked inward and were able to tell a good story with authenticity and passion.

Back when I taught middle school and wrote adult mysteries, my students often asked me why I wasn't writing for kids. I never had a good answer for them. It took me a long time to realize they were right.

Everyone has early fiction fantasies, but it wasn't until my second child Betsy was born that I allowed the urge to write a novel bubble up.

We were living in Denver, Colorado, and I was teaching high school. I asked the kids to write a short story, so I thought I should write some myself.

When I was about eight, I realised the person whose name was on the book got money for it, and it seemed almost too good to be true that you could get paid for making things up.

Writers do draw inspiration from their own lives, which, quite frankly, might be more interesting than fiction.

If you're telling a story, and somebody is going to come out badly, it better be you.

My passion has always been books and literature, and teaching.

Look, I'm not a perfect person. I have my warts. I sometimes say things that get me in trouble. I wear suits that are cheap. But I say what I think and I believe what I say, and I'm willing to say things that are not popular but ordinary people know are right.

I write from my imagination, not from what I've read in books or seen on TV or to make money. I wrote from an idea I was passionate about.

A nice person is a 'yes' person, whereas a good person is a person who accepts their responsibility in things and moves forward and tries to constantly evolve and isn't afraid to say no or challenge someone or be honest or truthful.

We shall act with good intentions, but at times we will be wrong. When we are, let us admit it and try to right the situation.

I think I've had the opportunity to work for people because I wanted to and because I thought they were good people, and therefore everything I do, I can do with sincerity.

A writer should have this little voice inside of you saying, Tell the truth. Reveal a few secrets here.

My intention throughout has been to write, to create literature, and to be able to look people in the eye after I'd done it - the people I'd written about.

I was a writer. I just wasn't a very good one. I was lucky enough to have a playwriting teacher who told me that I'd be a better actor than I would a playwright.

John McCain is never the kind of person that lies to himself. When he does something wrong he knows it and deals with it.... One of the few great men.

I was a schoolteacher; I taught seventh and eighth grade, and I tried to write fiction on the side.

When I was a kid, I got in trouble for lying a lot, and I had a teacher say, 'Instead of lying, write it down, because if you write it down, it's not a lie anymore; it's fiction.'

I'm very humbled by the fact that I do have so much to say, and I just hope that my walk, my honesty, will make a difference for people and maybe motivate them.

What is the difference between the novelist and the liar? At some moments, I have often wondered.