Literary Pursuits Quotes

When one has no particular talent for anything, one takes to the pen.

I make writing as much a part of my life as I do eating or listening to music.

Mr. Gladstone read Homer for fun, which I thought served him right.

I'm always trying. Between every book, I think, 'Well now, it's time to get down to the serious stuff.'

There was nothing glorious about the life of a drinker or the life of a writer.

I'm always writing - its what I like to do. But when I'm not writing, I'm reading.

She’d majored in English, hoping that meant she could spend the next four years reading and writing. And maybe the next four years after that.

Instead of becoming a great shikari, as my mother and stepfather might have wished, I had become an incurable bookworm and was to remain one for the rest of my life.

Honestly, I never dreamed of being a writer; it felt too unrealistic to even dream about.

The idea that you could make a living from writing always thrilled me.

You're either reading a book or you're not.

I started out in life as a poet; I was only writing poetry all through my 20s. It wasn't until I was about 30 that I got serious about writing prose. While I was writing poems, I would often divert myself by reading detective novels; I liked them.

I'm not taking any interest in politics. I'm not involved in politics in any way. My life is in writing now.

I began as a boy with artistic talent... as a visual artist... I thought that was what I'd become and in my late teens drifted into reading serious literature.

Well, I have to write. A lot of people forget that. They think I’m sort of crazy baffoon who can’t make up his mind what to do in life

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer, but I didn't think it would really be possible.

Every new book is a challenge. I could, of course, have stopped many years ago if it was only for money. But no, it is about building bridges among cultures, different cultures... When you want someone to understand something that is not forcefully in your culture, you use stories.

'Et Tu, Babe' was born out of my absolute certainty that a writer's life was solitary and insular, and I was happy with that. I love reading and writing; it's my whole life.

I started out as a writer of fiction, but nobody wanted to publish my work as a young man. So I decided to put my interest in the narrative writing of biographies.

And to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.

If you want to write for yourself, get a diary. If you want to write for your friends, get a blog. If you want to write for others...become an author.

Write for pleasure and publish for money.

When I was in high school and college, my other real focus was, actually, fiction writing. So in college, I had done all these seminars with these various writers-in-residence.

I'm sure it came as no surprise to my friends and family when I became an illustrator and then a writer because, from about the age of five, I was one of those children who always had his nose in a book.

I had art as a major, along with English, French and History. I had dance, modern dance. In English I was allowed to write my own poetry, which I eventually got published.