George V. Higgins, on writing:

You cannot write well without data.

- George V. Higgins.

Ann Patchett, on writing:

Writing is a job, a talent, but it's also the place to go in your head.

It is the imaginary friend you drink your tea with in the afternoon.

- Ann Patchett.

Stephen King, on writing:

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others; read a lot and write a lot.

There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.

- Stephen King.

Anne Tyler, on writing:

It's true that writing is a solitary occupation, but you would be surprised at how much companionship a group of imaginary characters can offer once you get to know them.

- Anne Tyler.

Carl Sagan, on imagination:

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were.

But without it, we go nowhere.

- Carl Sagan.

Bonnie Friedman, on writing:

Writing teaches writing.

Your writing will teach you how to write if you work hard enough and have enough faith.

- Bonnie Friedman.

John Steinbeck, on inspiration and writing:

Ideas are like rabbits.

You get a couple and learn how to handle them,

and pretty soon you have a dozen.

- John Steinbeck.

Jhumpa Lahiri, on books:

That's the thing about books.

They let you travel without moving your feet.

– Jhumpa Lahiri.

Charlotte Bronte, on writing:

You can write nothing of value unless you give yourself wholly to the theme -- and when you so give yourself -- you lose appetite and sleep -- it cannot be helped --

― Charlotte Brontë.

Confucius, on reading:

No matter how busy you may think you are,

you must find time for reading,

or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.

- Confucius.

Sappho, on words:

Although only breath,

words which I command are immortal.

- Sappho.

John Gardner, on writing:

Writing a novel is like heading out over the open sea in a small boat.

It helps, if you have a plan and a course laid out.

- John Gardner.

Mabel Seeley, on writing:

The only time I'm pleased with myself is when I'm exhausted and shaking from having written too much.

– Mabel Seeley.

Mark Twain, on reading:

The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.

- Mark Twain.

Ursula K. Le Guin, on writing:

When people say, Did you always want to be a writer?,

I have to say no! I always WAS a writer.

- Ursula K. Le Guin.

Harlan Ellison - on writing:

Writing is the hardest work in the world.

I have been a bricklayer and a truck driver,

and I tell you – as if you haven’t been told a million times already – 

that writing is harder.

Lonelier.

And nobler and more enriching.

– Harlan Ellison.

Mary Wortley Montagu, on reading:

No entertainment is so cheap as reading,

nor any pleasure so lasting.

– Mary Wortley Montagu.

Daniel J. Boorstin, on books:

Books are the main source of our knowledge, our reservoir of first faith, memory, wisdom, morality, poetry, philosophy, history and science.

- Daniel J. Boorstin.

Iris Chang, on writing:

Your first duty as a writer is to write to please yourself.

And you have no duty towards anyone else.

- Iris Chang.

Ray Bradbury, on writing:

Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow

after your characters have run by

on their way to incredible destinations.

- Ray Bradbury.