Paul Theroux Quotes

The pleasures of writing correspond exactly to the pleasures of reading

There is nothing greater than the joy of composing something oneself and then listening to it.

I enjoy the songs that I write, but I can never enjoy them the same way as other peoples' songs.

When we talk about good books, we often talk about good sentences, but what we rarely talk about is reader pleasure. Yet it is reader pleasure that is going to make a book break out into the kind of success that makes it into a household name.

True artists are almost the only men who do their work for pleasure.

I get satisfaction when I write something I like, when I'm happy with it.

To me, writing is the most fun. It's not always fun, but finally when you make it come out the way you want, it's then you can say, 'It's fun, boy.'

There's no better satisfaction than writing. I feel that writing is the best and everything else comes with it.

The mere brute pleasure of reading the sort of pleasure a cow must have in grazing.

I'm proud of what I write and feel endorsed by my readers.

I know there are writers who feel unhappy with domesticity and who even manufacture domestic turmoil in order to have something to write about. With me, though, the happier I feel, the better I write.

The mere brute pleasure of reading - the sort of pleasure a cow must have in grazing.

One thing that makes me very happy is to have a complicated idea and to feel that I've expressed myself clearly. I remember writing the ending to 'Happier at Home.' I wrote the entire book to build to that ending 'now is now,' and what I had to say was very abstract, and yet I felt satisfied that I managed to say what I wanted to say.

Literary generations come and go, and each generation passeth away and is heard of no more. In the end, simply the making itself - of poems and stories and essays - delivers the only reward a writer can be sure of. And, perhaps, the only one that matters.

When I have a creative insight, there is a high. I think back in the day, I made music as much as I did because it made me feel so good. I think you could argue that there is a creative addiction - but, you know, the healthy kind.

What's gratifying is that it's my books that are being read and reread until they're battered over the years. I love that.

If I couldn't use food or love to define contentment, I would use reading.

As a designer, you are flattered to see anyone in one of your designs, whether it's on a red carpet or passing by you in the market. It's this wonderful little high every time.

The greatest pleasure of reading consists in re-reading.

It's great making a film and having it embraced and seen. I really enjoy that.

I've always associated the moment of writing with a moment of lift, of joy, of unexpected reward.

I think the greatest reward you get as a writer is finding that people who are reasonably receptive and intelligent have liked your book.

The nicest notes I've received from readers are those that tell me I've gotten them back into reading for entertainment. For me, there is no greater compliment.

I'm nothing if not a literary hedonist.

People talk about the pain of writing, but very few people talk about the pleasure and satisfaction.