Janet Malcolm Quotes

As an observer, I'm analysing my reactions, I guess, and my thinking; but about the process of writing... I am not very talented at talking about what I do as a writer.

Janet Malcolm

• Thinking
• Writing

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Quotes to Explore

• The Enlightenment view of mankind is a complete myth. It leads us into thinking we're sane and rational creatures most of the time, and we're not.

  

  J. G. Ballard
  • Time
  • Thinking
  • View

• I'm guilty of it myself, sort of thinking, 'Classic novels: snoozeville.' But there is a huge amount of wonderful material.

  

  Natasha Little
  • Thinking
  • Myself
  • Guilty

• Revision is the heart of writing. Every page I do is done over seven or eight times.

  

  Patricia Reilly Giff
  • Writing
  • Heart
  • Done

• I try to choose the projects that I think are the most well-written and well-executed, and the rest of it is so beyond my control to be almost not worth thinking about at all.

  

  Jack Davenport
  • Thinking
  • Think
  • Control

• When you're writing a book, you don't really think about it critically. You don't want to know too well what you're doing. First, you write the book, then you find the justification for it.

  

  E. L. Doctorow
  • Writing
  • Book
  • Doing

• The correctness and quality of what you write do not matter; the act of writing does.

  

  Natalie Goldberg
  • Writing
  • You
  • Quality

• I like writing flawed women, and being one, it's something I feel I can write with some veracity and authority.

  

  Callie Khouri
  • Writing
  • Women
  • Feel

• Write every day; never give up; it's supposed to be difficult; try to find some pleasure and reward in the act of writing, because you can't look for praise from editors, readers, or critics. In other words, tips that are much easier to give than to take.

  

  J. R. Moehringer
  • Up
  • Writing
  • Words

• I don't think I'd ever make an album of just covers because I love writing my own music.

  

  Taylor Swift
  • Music
  • Writing
  • Think

• You need people around you that care about you and are thinking about you in your best interest. And keep your mind straight.

  

  Q'orianka Kilcher
  • People
  • Thinking
  • Mind

• We took a plant that was being closed by a big company thinking there was no good use for it, and we came in with a different perspective. We bought some used equipment, as simple as we could.

  

  Hamdi Ulukaya
  • Good
  • Different
  • Thinking

• For me, any book I'm writing is also a chance to get in and research and read and learn things that I maybe only knew a little bit about before.

  

  Tad Williams
  • Book
  • Chance
  • Learn

• Writing can be a very solitary profession, and when deadlines are looming, it's tempting to glue myself to my desk, but I try to make sure I get out a few times a month with friends just so I don't forget what it means to be social.

  

  Becca Fitzpatrick
  • Writing
  • Friends
  • Myself

• For hundreds of years Iranians have been migrating to many parts of the world. They took Islamic culture to other parts of the world and established it there.

  

  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
  • World
  • Culture
  • Years

• My father died in France, and my sisters and I went over with my mum to bring back his body. I remember going to the funeral parlour in France and being given a laminated menu of coffins, and thinking, surely there is an ice cream at the back of here!

  

  Rachel Joyce
  • Thinking
  • Remember
  • Father

• I enjoy celebrating Valentine's Day. It's a nice way to say you're thinking about your family, someone special, or dear friends.

  

  Camila Alves
  • Thinking
  • Family
  • Friends

• When writers stop to sharpen pencils or get up and make coffee to procrastinate, they still stay in their heads with their characters. But when you zip over to read email or check your Facebook page, you get zapped out of the fictive dream. It's brutal on my writing.

  

  M. J. Rose
  • Up
  • Writing
  • Dream

• I think the French have a romantic cliche that Englishmen have great style, great music, irony and sense of humour. Well, sometimes cliches are true.

  

  Josephine de La Baume
  • Thinking
  • Style
  • Sometimes

• Writing a book is a tremendous experience. It pays off intellectually. It clarifies your thinking. It builds credibility. It is a living engine of marketing and idea spreading, working every day to deliver your message with authority. You should write one.

  

  Seth Godin
  • Thinking
  • Writing
  • Book

• Parents are your teachers until a certain point, and if they don't give you love, you'll go somewhere else to find it.

  

  Marguerite Moreau
  • Parents

• We depend on the gifts of nature, but these gifts must be received with gratitude and not exploited or abused

  

  Satish Kumar
  • Gifts

• I am a writer, which means I write stories, I write novels, and I would write poetry if I knew how to. I don't want to limit myself.

  

  Aleksandar Hemon
  • Poetry

• As an observer, I'm analysing my reactions, I guess, and my thinking; but about the process of writing... I am not very talented at talking about what I do as a writer.

  

  Janet Malcolm
  • Thinking
  • Writing