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.

Annie Dillard, on writing:

One of the few things I know about writing is this:

Spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time.

Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book, give it, give it all, give it now.

- Annie Dillard.

Earth Day – April 22:

April 22 is Earth Day

Value and protect the environment, wildlife and pollinators.
Climate change is real.
Learn how to reduce carbon emissions.
Conserve.
Observe.
Preserve.
Recycle.
Reduce.
Reuse.
Save.

Earth laughs in flowers.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Richard Eberhart, on writing:

Style is the perfection of a point of view.

- Richard Eberhart.

Hilma Wolitzer, on writing:

Writing fiction is a solitary occupation, but not really a lonely one.

The writer's head is mobbed with characters, images and language.

- Hilma Wolitzer.

George V. Higgins, on writing:

The characters are telling you the story.

I'm not telling you the story, they're going to do it.

If I do it right, you will get the whole story.

- George V. Higgins.

Selma Lagerlöf, on imagination:

No one is able to enjoy such feast than the one who throws a party in his own mind.

- Selma Lagerlöf.

Raymond Chandler, on writing:

The challenge is to write about real things magically.

- Raymond Chandler.

J.K. Rowling, on writing:

Writing for me is a kind of compulsion,

so I don't think anyone could have made me do it,

or prevented me from doing it.

- J.K. Rowling.

W. Somerset Maugham, on reading:

To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.

- W. Somerset Maugham.

Introvert insight:

Solitude has its own very strange beauty to it.

– Liv Tyler.

I am a minimalist.
I like saying the most with the least.

– Bob Newhart.

I owe everything that I have done to the fact that I am very much at ease being alone.

– Marilynne Robinson.

A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live.

– Bertrand Russell.

Mel Brooks, on writing:

Every human being has hundreds of separate people living under his skin.
The talent of a writer is his ability to give them their separate names, identities, personalities
and have them relate to other characters living with him.

– Mel Brooks.

Mr. Rogers' wisdom:

The really important "great" things are never center stage of life's dramas;

they're always "in the wings".

That's why it's so essential for us to be mindful of the humble and the deep

rather than the flashy and the superficial.

- Fred Rogers.

Mabel Seeley, on writing:

There's less skill and more plain hard work to writing than anyone except a writer thinks.

- Mabel Seeley.

Joseph Conrad, on writing:

My task, which I am trying to achieve is,

by the power of the written word,

to make you hear, to make you feel -

it is, before all, to make you see.

- Joseph Conrad.

Danielle LaPorte, on creativity:

I focus for periods of time on creative work and I'm very insular during those times - not a lot of socializing.

I play when I want.

That means I can take off on a retreat, catch a matinee, make friends.

My core desired feelings are my time management system.

- Danielle LaPorte.

National Pet Day - April 11:

National Pet Day - April 11

Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them,

filling an emptiness we don't even know we have.

- Thom Jones.

My animals are a really important part of my life.

– Lisa Scottoline.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, on imagination:

The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.

- Jean-Jacques Rousseau.