Stephen Greenblatt (Stephen Jay Greenblatt) Quotes
I think the writing of literature should give pleasure. What else should it be about? It is not nuclear physics. It actually has to give pleasure or it is worth nothing.
Quotes to Explore
-
Writing requires the concentration of the writer, demands that nothing else be done except that.
-
Writing books is a nice retreat. There's nothing quite like diving into a book for a few hours. That is a big time vacation.
-
There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it.
-
Then about 1951 I began writing again, painfully, a novel I called in the beginning A Life Sentence on Earth, but which developed into The Tree of Man.
-
I love writing songs.
-
Personal relationships are usually my biggest inspirations for writing my songs. The best way for me to write a song is to visualise the story in my head, and I start humming a melody, and before you know it, a song is born.
-
I will just generalise it that anything that I find too disgusting is not worth an answer.
-
I was always more interested in my books and my writing than going out. It's OK to say I'm a nerd. That's me.
-
After the children grew up, I began to focus on my writing. My first books were part of a trilogy... The 'Wind Dance' trilogy.
-
Nobody's going to write a book about me, because nobody's going to find anything worth writing a book about.
-
I'm a pretty easygoing person, and it bleeds into the music. Even if I'm writing the most personal song, it's not going to come out totally serious; there's always a little tongue in the cheek.
-
Writing blurbs for books means you have to read the book, and it cuts into the business of bookselling. So every time I get a blurb from a bookseller, I try to write a thank you note.
-
When I graduated high school, I bought a guitar and, at first, didn't really think I'd get into the songwriting thing as much as I did. But after learning a few songs of other people's to play on the guitar, I got bored with that and just started writing songs on my own, and that's kinda how it came about.
-
One thing I've had to realize in my career is that I can't do it all. Sometimes we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make sure we're writing the next hit. There are other people out there, and that's what they do every day, and they have strengths that I don't have.
-
All art is propaganda, and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purists. I stand in utter shamelessness and say that whatever art I have for writing has been used always for propaganda for gaining the right of black folk to love and enjoy. I do not care a damn for any art that is not used for propaganda.
-
I don't feel comfortable doing interviews. My profession is music, and writing songs. That's what I do. I like to do it, but I hate to talk about it.
-
But when I was a little kid, I was always writing stories and illustrating little books that I would create.
-
Writing is like carrying a fetus.
-
I think there is a rage against women. I've come to see that now although at the time I did not notice it. I was preoccupied with my teaching and my writing.
-
I try to solve my problems by writing music and recording albums, but you know what's really funny about that? Once the album becomes a success, it doesn't solve your problems. It just gets harder to write the next album.
-
If you just keep your head down and just try and do your thing, sometimes magic happens.
-
You can not bring back the past. But you certainly can not repeat it. Life is short, even if live to ninety. Live to the fullest - that's how I feel. Appreciate every moment, every hour, every day, because they do not blink of an eye, all over. I am absolutely sure that for most people their death comes as a surprise.
-
As an artist, I think you always have to take care of yourself as a person probably even more than the average person because your body is so important to your art.
-
I think the writing of literature should give pleasure. What else should it be about? It is not nuclear physics. It actually has to give pleasure or it is worth nothing.
