Susan Sontag, on reading and writing:

Reading usually precedes writing.

And the impulse to write is almost always fired by reading.

Reading, the love of reading, is what makes you dream of becoming a writer.

- Susan Sontag.

Robert Henri, on art:

A work of art is the trace of a magnificent struggle.

- Robert Henri.

Caitlin Moran, on books:

Read as many books as you can.

Every book you read means you absorb another life.

It's the most pleasurable power-up ever.

- Caitlin Moran.

Michelangelo, on learning:

I am still learning.

- Michelangelo

(at age 87).

Gloria Steinem, on writing:

I do not like to write - I like to have written.

- Gloria Steinem.

One of the best ways to get through the cold of winter:

Keep warm and read a good book.

Rainer Maria Rilke, on writing:

If, when you wake up in the morning, you can think of nothing but writing ... then you are a writer.

- Rainer Maria Rilke.

Introvert insight:

Solitude matters.
And for some people it’s the air they breathe.

– Susan Cain.

For introverts, to be alone with our thoughts is as restorative as sleeping, as nourish as eating.

– Jonathan Rauch.

People say things to me like, ‘It’s really cool that you don’t go out and get drunk all the time and go to clubs.’
I appreciate that, but I’m an introverted kind of person just by nature.

– Emma Watson.

I am primarily a loner.

I don’t go to clubs.

I don’t hang out with people.

I don’t know many people.

It’s just the way it ended up.

It’s not a sob story; it’s fine for me.

– Henry Rollins.

James Patterson, on reading:

If you're not reading - with your heart as well as your brain - you will be one stupid grown up.
Even worst, you'll be missing out on one of the best experiences you can possibly have.
Nowhere will you meet more interesting people than in books.

- James Patterson.

Toni Morrison, on writing:

The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self,

to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar,

is the test of their power.

- Toni Morrison.

Hunter S. Thompson, on writing:

No music + bad TV = Bad mood & no pages.

- Hunter S. Thompson.

Stephen King, on writing:

Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about.

It is this genuine caring,

not your games with language,

which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.

- Stephen King.

James Ellroy, on writing:

Cats gotta scratch.

Dogs gotta bite.

I gotta write.

- James Ellroy.

Mary Higgins Clark, on writing:

Writing is storytelling.

No matter how you slice it, you're saying, 'Once upon a time.'

That's what writing is all about.

- Mary Higgins Clark.

Stan Lee, on writing and reading:

The only advice anybody can give is, if you wanna be a writer, keep writing.

And read all you can, read everything.

- Stan Lee.

Liv Ullman, on books:

Books have always been living things to me.

Some of my encounters with new authors have changed my life a little.

When I have been perplexed,

looking for something I could not define to myself,

a certain book has turned up,

approached me as a friend would.

And between its cover carried the questions and the answers I was looking for.

- Liv Ullmann.

Ray Bradbury, on intuition and writing:

Your intuition knows what to write,

so get out of the way.

- Ray Bradbury.

James Patterson, on reading:

You see, one of the best things about reading

is that you'll always have something to think about when you're not reading.

- James Patterson.

Beatrix Potter, on writing:

There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story.

You never quite know where they'll take you.

- Beatrix Potter.

Lawrence Clark Powell, on writing, speaking and reading:

Write to be understood,

speak to be heard,

read to grow.

- Lawrence Clark Powell.