M. J. Rose Quotes

They say every writer really just writes about one thing over and over. I guess my one thing is how the past impacts the present.

Never underestimate how history injects itself into the present.

Great leaders don't rush to blame. They instinctively look for solutions.

I don't know how you can understand other people or yourself if you haven't read a lot of books. I just don't think you're equipped to deal with the demands and decisions of life, particularly in your dealings with other people.

My first biography written in '73 was not 'Journey To The Moon.' It was 'Return To Earth.' Because for me, that was the more difficult task - disappointment.

Each time I write a new piece, whether a novel, a picture book, a speech or anything, really, it has so much to do with what I'm going through personally or a problem I'm trying to work out. When I wrote my novel 'Baby,' my three children had all just gone out the door.

Those things interest me a lot in songwriting - the human nature of how people think, and the muck that we wind up in.

This wealth of experiences, personal and professional, have helped me appreciate the variety of perspectives that present themselves in every case that I hear.

On the one hand, the idea of marriage and the sort of traditional family life repulses me. But on the other hand, I long for it, you know what I mean? I'm constantly in conflict with things. And it is because of my past and my upbringing and the journey that I've been on.

I think that in some ways everybody is like Roger. Everybody thinks that when their friends have a problem, that they know the answer and that it's much easier to analyze the problems of other people than your own.

What I loved about the acting class was that you got to think all day long about a person that wasn't you, and figure out why they were sad and what they wanted, what they dreamed.

Training to be a therapist teaches you to shut up and listen, and that is certainly useful as a writer.

When you have a problem, rules don't solve your problem. It's caring and education.

Art is for entertainment purposes, but it's also to reflect our dreams, our hopes, the present, the future the past - whether it's good or bad.

I am a good listener. I think that came from my schooling.

I don't like getting people upset, so that's not my goal. But I like putting people in situations where how they respond says a lot about them.

People sometimes seem surprised because often, you know, you know, there's a lot of tortured characters in the stuff I write.

One of the basic causes for all the trouble in the world today is that people talk too much and think too little.

No single conflict from the past can serve as a reliable model for struggles in the present.

History is not the past. History is the present. We carry our history with us.

I should probably be careful admitting this, but sometimes, when my characters are having a disagreement, it's a disagreement I'm having with myself. I can see both sides of the argument.

If you find great difficulty in trying to reckon with the future or even the present, I think it's intuitive to start that process by reckoning with the past.

I hope my journals relating to World War II will help clarify issues of the past and thereby contribute to understanding the issues and conditions of the present and future.

I generally don't like to talk too much about the character unless I feel stuck or in some trouble.

As a writer, you always try to imagine, 'What if I were in a situation like this? How would I react?'