John Updike Quotes

The written word is the basic of everything. Most important, the idea, and after that, the dialogue. You can rehash the dialogue as you go along, it 's disgraceful to have to do this, but now and again you have no choice.

I was born into a profession in which my love of words, chosen with care for their meaning and nuance, was extremely important, not only to me, but also to the people with whom I worked with.

I know a lot about words. I get paid to write stories, so I get to talk with people about the meaning behind words all day.

Be prepared to fall out of love with your words. I'm still too verbose at times.

I'm tired of wasting letters when punctuation will do, period.

I don't like writing - it's so difficult to say what you mean. It's much easier to edit other people's writing and help them say what they mean.

If you re-read your work, you can find on re-reading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing.

Writing is rewriting; rewriting is writing - from the first crossed-out word in the first sentence to the last word inserted above a caret, that most helpful handwritten stroke.

Writing is learning to say nothing, more cleverly each day.

Words are the basic tools, if you are a writer. But why? Why do you choose one set of tools rather than another?

Writers are the ones who figure out how to put their observations into words.

I love writing different things.

If I remember correctly, a writer is someone who wants to convey information. Language or writing is a code.

And the most important thing you can do is learn to edit yourself. And then go back and rewrite.

People often complain that music is too ambiguous, that what they should think when they hear it is so unclear, whereas everyone understands words. With me, it is exactly the opposite, and not only with regard to an entire speech but also with individual words.

The human word is neither immortal nor invulnerable; but it is the power that orders our chaos, and the light by which we live.

Words, which are the dress of thoughts, deserve surely more care than clothes, which are only the dress of the person.

I think writing is a glorious and noble thing.

When I write, I'm talking to myself constantly to make sure that it sounds OK; it has kind of a nice rhythm and a nice jump to it.

When the public doesn't understand me, it's a battle. So when I choose words, I choose them for their musicality, rhythm, and sense, and I choose the right dialect to express that.

I know words sometimes have consequences, but I try to choose the correct words every time.

Words, like glasses, obscure everything they do not make clear. Before using a fine word, make a place for it.

The writing begins when you’ve finished. Only then do you know what you’re trying to say.

Translation is entirely mysterious. Increasingly I have felt that the art of writing is itself translating, or more like translating than it is like anything else. What is the other text, the original? I have no answer. I suppose it is the source, the deep sea where ideas swim, and one catches them in nets of words and swings them shining into the boat... where in this metaphor they die and get canned and eaten in sandwiches.

That's all we have, finally, the words, and they had better be the right ones.