Show me a hero, and I'll write you a tragedy.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald
Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music. The world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.
—Henry Mancini
The notion of talent is quite irrelevant. I see instead perseverance, application... will, will, will, desire, desire, desire.
—Gordon Lish
Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time.
—William Zinsser
Writers write while dreamers procrastinate.
—Besa Kosova
The only thing worth writing about is the conflict in the human heart.
—William Faulkner
When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.
—George Orwell
Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
—Tom Stoppard
This is the extraordinary thing about creativity: If just you keep your mind resting against the subject in a friendly but persistent way, sooner or later you will get a reward from your unconscious.
—John Cleese
