Pam Webb

A Quiver of Quotes

perusing through a recently acquired preview AP textbook, I couldn’t help but appreciate the assortment of writerly quotes sprinkled throughout the book.  A collector of words, I knew I had to gather them, and words, like arrows, fly straight, cleaving the mark true and fair when the marksman is skilled and the aim is practiced.  (ooh, maybe that will end up in a textbook someday…)

Never mistake motion for action–Ernest Hemingway

 

 It is not necessary to portray many characters. The center of gravity should be in two persons:  him and her. —Anton Chekov

To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.–Herman Melville

It is the writer’s privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart.–William Faulkner

For me, fiction is life transformed and fueled by imagination.–Dagoberto Gilb

A ration of failures is built into the process of writing. The wastebasket has evolved for a reason.–Margaret Atwood

When I’m asked what made me into a writer, I point to the watershed experience of coming to this country. Not understanding the language, I had to pay close attention to each word–great training for a writer. —Julia Alvarez

Not all things are to be discovered; many are better concealed.–Sophocles

Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.–Ezra Pound

You must write.  It’s not enough to start by thinking. You become a writer by writing.–R.K. Narayan

Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I’ll dig with it.
—Seamus Heaney

 

 

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