Elena Ferrante Quotes
Perhaps Lila was right: my book—even though it was having so much success—really was bad, and this was because it was well organized, because it was written with obsessive care, because I hadn’t been able to imitate the disjointed, unaesthetic, illogical, shapeless banality of things.
Quotes to Explore
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The books that help you most are those which make you think that most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.
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It takes 20 years to make an overnight success.
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Whenever you have taken up work in hand, you must see it to the finish. That is the ultimate secret of success. Never, never, never give up!
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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.
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I don't want to be involved with an actor because I know how they are. I've had problems in the past being with guys who haven't had any success or haven't made as much money, and it's very uncomfortable.
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I'm very competitive, and my ego couldn't handle that lack of success.
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Once I was condemned to three months' absolute silence. As I could not speak, I wrote a book.
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I hate to badmouth any book or writer, because I know how it feels to be on the other end of that.
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It's interesting that the book publishing industry, on the iPad, has much more flexibility than the music industry had.
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Success in Iraq will be a major setback for terrorists and a major asset for the security of this region. The struggle for Iraq is the struggle for the future of the world.
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If you have no critics you'll likely have no success.
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Creative risk taking is essential to success in any goal where the stakes are high. Thoughtless risks are destructive, of course, but perhaps even more wasteful is thoughtless caution which prompts inaction and promotes failure to seize opportunity.
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Breast cancer deaths in America have been declining for more than a decade. Much of that success is due to early detection and better treatments for women. I strongly encourage women to get a mammogram.
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Sometimes I have a melody in my head; sometimes it's just a verse. I read lines from a book or movies that I watch and grab a few quotes and start writing on paper. From there, I record a really rough version and work on the song.
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As a self-published author, you have the choice. Embrace the power to create a book that is truly yours. Don't be a whiner or a copycat.
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It is a career that can be enhanced or destroyed by success.
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The metaphor of Exodus is one that has dogged the Jews from the outset. Their very success attracts resentment.
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If no one knows your book is out there, no one will think about buying it. It's as simple as that.
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Is 'The Wind in the Willows' a children's book? Is 'Alice in Wonderland?' Is 'Treasure Island?' These are masterpieces which we read with pleasure as children, but with how much more pleasure when we are grown-up.
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The one thing you have to do if you write a book is put yourself in someone else's shoes. The reader's shoes. You've got to entertain them.
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No one seems to wash in Middle-earth.
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I'm quite sure that most writers would sustain real poetry if they could, but it takes devotion and talent.
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I look at the rates of suicide among gay teens. They are so, so high for suicide attempts and for completed suicides.
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Perhaps Lila was right: my book—even though it was having so much success—really was bad, and this was because it was well organized, because it was written with obsessive care, because I hadn’t been able to imitate the disjointed, unaesthetic, illogical, shapeless banality of things.
