Member my old commonplace book? Here are a ton more. Many of them are writers either talking about their writing, or commenting on other writers. I feel I should say this: whether or not I agree with the sentiments of the quotes is irrelevant to me. It's the quote ITSELF I am interested in. [For example: I agree with all of the quotes bad-mouthing James. I hate James. But I am also highly interested in the opinions of those who found him brilliant. It's all good to me. It's all part of learning more about life, and writing, and people.] I feel I have to say this because when I've posted such quotes before, some readers get defensive - like: "Hey! I love Henry James!" or whatever - some tiresome remark like that. The quotes are not endorsements one way or the other. I like the quotes because they are a montage of artistic comments ... it's a jigsaw-puzzle of responses, and reading over them make me feel alive. They make me remember my own intellectual curiosity, my own ambitions ... and they make me love (all over again) people who READ. People who inquire, and love, and hate things strongly. This is why I keep those quotes.
My commonplace book is to remind me never to stop questioning, never to think, "There. Now I'm DONE".
It helps keep me in the conversation.
I hope you enjoy the quotes - I hope they make you think, or make you laugh (some very funny ones!!) God bless Oscar Wilde and his wit!
Posted by sheila | TrackBackSheila, thanks for posting about commonplace books again.
I'm still working with the kids on journaling and one of my favorite aspects is the commonplace book. I'm going to try to fit it in again this summer.
De - I love that you do that with the kids. Such a great idea for them!
Posted by: red at May 30, 2007 11:20 AMJames always says the worst about anyone but himself, and love is equal to reticence right? I love him!
ooooooooo! thank you, thank you, thank you. i love these! i hope you don't mind me sharing a few of my own - i'll keep the focus on just two authors for today:)
"When the first-rate author wants an exquisite heroine or a lovely morning, he finds that all the superlatives have been worn shoddy by his inferiors. It should be a rule that bad writers must start with plain heroines and ordinary mornings, and, if they are able, work up to something better."
-(F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), U.S. author. "Notebook L," The Crack-Up, ed. Edmund Wilson (1945).)
"I like people and I like them to like me, but I wear my heart where God placed it – on the inside."
-(F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), U.S. author. In a letter to his daughter.)
"I am not a great man, but sometimes I think the impersonal and objective equality of my talent and the sacrifices of it, in pieces, to preserve its essential value has some sort of epic grandeur."
-(F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), U.S. author.)
"You see it's awfully hard to talk or write about your own stuff because if it is any good you yourself know about how good it is—but if you say so yourself you feel like a shit."
-(Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), U.S. author. letter, Oct. 17, 1945, to poet and critic Malcolm Cowley. Selected Letters, ed. Carlos Baker (1981).)
"You know lots of criticism is written by characters who are very academic and think it is a sign you are worthless if you make jokes or kid or even clown. I wouldn't kid Our Lord if he was on the cross. But I would attempt a joke with him if I ran into him chasing the money changers out of the temple."
-(Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), U.S. author. Letter, June 21, 1952. Selected Letters, ed. Carlos Baker (1981).)
"Cowardice, as distinguished from panic, is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend the functioning of the imagination."
-(Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), U.S. author. Men at War, introduction (1942).)
"Eschew the monumental. Shun the Epic. All the guys who can paint great big pictures can paint great small ones."
-(Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), U.S. author. Letter, January 5-6, 1932. Published in Selected Letters, ed. Carlos Baker (1981).)
ateenyi - those are amazing. Thank you thank you for sharing them!! I haven't heard any of them - I love the one about Hemingway attempting a joke with Jesus as he chases moneychangers away ...
But all of them are great. Real lessons there, for anyone attempting to write anything, don't you think? I love Fitzgerald's comment about new writers choosing ordinary heroines, etc. That is so so true.
Posted by: red at May 31, 2007 6:43 AM
ja. fitzgerald's comment about plain heroines and ordinary mornings is one of my personal favourites. so true! still, it's interesting - i don't think hemingway, for instance, had any need (or care!) for grand superlatives.
i love these not only because - as you said - they contain real lessons for any aspiring writer, but also because i think they help any reader appreciate the art in a way that's just a little more *real*. i'm not a writer at all, but knowing these quotes has made my reading experiences... richer, i guess. on some level.
and, please - keep your commonplace posts coming!
Posted by: ateenyi at June 1, 2007 3:49 AM