Jess Walter Quotes
I cling to the idea that Herman Melville had to work at the end of his career watching ships in a dock, as a shipping agent in New York. Any writer who thinks they should be given patronage because of their gift... you don't have to look too far in history to see that's just not the case.

Quotes to Explore
-
The contributions of African Americans, Native Americans, and immigrants throughout our nation's history are undeniable, but the tendency to overlook their gallant efforts is pervasive and persistent.
-
I've always been proud that my name stands for peace.
-
All genius is a conquering of chaos and mystery.
-
With a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and with a fraud I try to be a fraud and a half.
-
Natural selection, as it has operated in human history, favors not only the clever but the murderous.
-
If you stop being scared, that's when entropy sets in, and you may as well go home.
-
When we read fiction, we want to get outside of ourselves and are able to see from a perspective we haven't seen through before. That can be very powerful.
-
I like nicotine because it excites my brain and helps me work.
-
I've never worn fur, either. I'm a naturally squeamish person, and fur smells like dead animal to me.
-
The field of the novel is very rich. If you're a composer, you're well aware of the history of composition, and you are trying to make your music part of that history. You're not ahistorical. In the same way, I think, if you write now, you are writing in the historical context of what the novel has been and what possibilities it has revealed.
-
We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know.
-
Don't feel sorry for me. I've had a great life, great friends.
-
We must not let daylight in upon the magic.
-
Theatre sports is the best improv training period.
-
I am not afraid to go to jail.
-
The voices on the record, that was trying to treat my voice like guitar players treat guitar tones.
-
It's not like my old self – I'm not in character anymore, I'm me. I'm not hiding behind that anymore.
-
I think St. Jude helped me achieve some miracles in my life - that's why I wear the medallion in my left ear and never take it out.
-
As a boy, I devoured comics but never saw what we now describe as a picture book.
-
For a Westerner to trash Western culture is like criticizing our nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere on the grounds that it sometimes gets windy, and besides, Jupiter's is much prettier. You may not realize its advantages until you're trying to breathe liquid methane.
-
It's something that I love about this business and that scares me about this business, but in a good way. You just never know what's going to happen. And things change constantly. But there's always opportunities for new work, so you just have to enjoy the job that you're on while you're on it because it doesn't last forever.
-
I loved history and Eastern European politics.
-
We never went into a game that we did not feel sure of winning, and when we lost, we blamed it on hard luck or the umpires. We never gave any other team credit for being able to play ball, and the result was that we were hard to beat. If I could get my team to be confident, I think we would work our way to the front pretty quickly.
-
I cling to the idea that Herman Melville had to work at the end of his career watching ships in a dock, as a shipping agent in New York. Any writer who thinks they should be given patronage because of their gift... you don't have to look too far in history to see that's just not the case.