Alfred Kazin Quotes

I write to make sense of my life." -John Cheever, quoted in _Cheever - A Life_ (2009) by Blake Bailey

I have never done films to prove a point to anyone; I have done them for myself.

One of the most important reasons for living is to do something - live outside of yourself and put together an idea, an idea that you want to explore and then complete... Awaken your creative sensitivities!

I have always written only for myself - to clarify things, to clarify things with myself, to understand in an inner way what is actually happening.

I'm doing things that are more artistic again, more close to the material that I love. I don't disparage those things that I did. They're just not as much reflective of who I am.

People think my work is therapeutic. I don't see it that way. It's not like I'm saving money from a weekly therapy visit by writing down my life.

I like writing, but I write for self-improvement more than I do for money.

I used to love writing in my journal.

I came from anonymity, and I will continue to write as a private pursuit.

My films are always a reflection of where I am in my life.

I always find another version of myself in each of my films.

What’s writing really about? It’s about trying to take fuller possession of the reality of your life.

I write what I write and I honestly don't care if it gets on or not. I'm writing to see if I can find out some of what I think about any number of situations. I work it out in the writing.

He that writes to himself writes to an eternal public. That statement only is fit to be made public, which you have come at in attempting to satisfy your own curiosity.

I didn't write because I had anything to say, but in order to find out what there was to say.

I, myself, write to change my life, to make it come out the way I want it to. But other people write for other reasons: to see more closely what it is they are thinking about, what they may be afraid of. Sometimes writers write to solve a problem, to answer their own question. All these reasons are good reasons. And that is the most important thing I'll ever tell you. Maybe it is the most important thing you'll ever hear. Ever.

Writers don't write to inform other people, they write to find out something themselves.

All my songs are where I am.

I think there are parts of myself in every character I play.

If you really want to know yourself, start by writing a book.

Today I start a diary; it is against my usual habbits, but out of a clearly felt need.

With every project you do, you bring out a part of yourself, and it seems to be quite a good way of expanding a person.

I am not fighting for success, just to get more beauty out of myself and share it with more people.

When I read profiles of myself, I sometimes think: 'I have spent my whole life struggling to understand my motivations and impulses, and I've never quite sorted them out.'

I say that virtue is really all about enjoying yourself, living fully; but of course it is far from obvious what living fully actually means.