Philip Roth Quotes

I've been writing since I was six years old. It's hard to imagine stopping. I would hate to think that I've already written my best book.

Like all former thinkers, I'm writing a book.

If you don't like my book, write your own.

I'm a better writer now because I've worked very hard at getting better. My long-range goal will always be to write better books.

A lot of my close friends had tolerantly washed their hands of the whole idea of me writing a book. They had said to themselves, "I don't know what he's doing."

It is no fun at all to have been writing a book for seven or so years, especially when you've never published anything before.

Writing a book is the most terrifying thing that I've ever done. It's so much harder than writing for television because it is a completely different skill set.

Writing a book isn’t an easy process nor is it always enjoyable, but it is one of life’s most satisfying achievements.

A book is not a short-term project. It's essentially your baby, so it takes a lot of work.

I never thought that it would take me so long to do something. I thought everything was temporary and sometimes the best thing you have working in your favor is a bad sense of time. In order to sit down and write a book that takes six years you have to have a screwed up sense of time because that's too daunting. No one is going to pick up a pen and a piece of paper and say, "Okay, six years, here we go."

The first book is the book you have to write to get back at your parents; the book you always had in you. Once you get that out of your way, you can start writing books.

Of all the ways of acquiring books, writing them oneself is regarded as the most praiseworthy method.

I cannot imagine a sorrier pursuit than struggling for years to write a book that attempts to appeal to people who do not read in the first place.

A really good day for me is to write my book for about four hours, go to the writing room for about four hours and then maybe come back to the book to finish the day for a few more hours of it.

In a weak moment, I have written a book.

O God, let me write books! Please, God, let me write books!

A man starts upon a sudden, takes Pen, Ink, and Paper, and without ever having had a thought of it before, resolves within himself he will write a Book; he has no Talent at Writing, but he wants fifty Guineas.

I always wanted to write. While I was on a long surf trip, supporting myself with various day jobs, I was working hard on a novel. My third novel, in fact.

I began to write when I was seven, and I have been writing off and on ever since. It is still off and on. You can say that when I am on, when I know I have a book which I am going to write, then I write two thousand words a day. That's so many pages longhand.

I write the books that I'm compelled to and I definitely learn things about the world when I write them, and I hope that other people get something out of them, enjoy them, see the world differently when they're done.

The definition of a writing career, is write a book, write another book, write another book

Most writers want to share their essay or book much too quickly. Those who accept the pain of hard work and revising are those who get published.

Pay attention to your passions. They are the key to starting and finishing the book you are meant to write. I don't believe in talent. I believe in passion.

I've lost my writing skills since college. I couldn't write a book. It would take a long time.

Turning the blog into a book was extremely difficult, a tremendous amount of sustained, hard work. Blogging is easy; writing a book is difficult.