H. P. Lovecraft Quotes

Ironically, in today's marketplace successful nonfiction has to be unbelievable, while successful fiction must be believable.

My job is to tell a story, and the decisions about the casting have to be honest.

People like my honesty. When I'm sane, I'm very much myself.

Insanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage.

True! - nervous - very, very nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?

What if The Odyssey has no more validity or authenticity than one of the other stories that you hear Odysseus telling? Whoever created The Odyssey was incredibly hip to stuff that we think, in our post-modernist, post-structuralist era, we're uncovering for the first time; but we aren't.

I have toyed with the idea of playing it straight. But, like I say, I really believe we are all out of our minds at some level.

You couldn't even prove the White House staff sane beyond a reasonable doubt.

If it's fiction, then it better be true.

From time to time, I do consider that I might be mad. Like any self-respecting lunatic, however, I am always quick to dismiss any doubts about my sanity.

-I am not sure whether he's sane. -If there's any doubt about the matter, he is.

You don't think I'm crazy?" I asked hesitantly. "Like I'm one to judge another persons sanity.

All stories are true,” Skarpi said. “But this one really happened, if that’s what you mean.” He took another slow drink, then smiled again, his bright eyes dancing. “More or less. You have to be a bit of a liar to tell a story the right way. Too much truth confuses the facts. Too much honesty makes you sound insincere.

Thelonius Monk went over to Bird and Bud Powell and said, 'I told you guys to act crazy, but I didn't tell you to fall in love with the act. You're really crazy now.'

Why is it that reality, when set down untransposed in a book, sounds false?

Who but the mad would choose to keep on living? In the end, aren't we all just a little crazy?

Self-doubt is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

My passion is to tell stories that reflect humanity.

There is no doubt of the essential nobility of that man who pours into life the honest vigor of his toil, over those who compose the feathery foam of fashion that sweeps along Broadway; who consider the insignia of honor to consist in wealth and indolence; and who, ignoring the family history, paint coats of arms to cover up the leather aprons of their grandfathers.

Either that boy is the sanest creature on Earth, he thought, or he is so disturbed that our tests cannot even begin to scratch the surface.

In the end, fiction is the craft of telling truth through lies.

I do not preach doubtingly, for I do not live doubtingly.

Question every thought that causes suffering and test it against your own sense of truth.

What's great about good writing is that it feels like life, so it's not hard to relate to her circumstances.

Madness is only an amplification of what you already are.