"[George] Orwell's essays. It's got it all. Great writing, a worldview that I find interesting and useful, and most of it timelessly true."
Read quote
3 likes
Writing quotes
Writing
30.7K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Topics related to Writing
Browse quotes that often appear alongside writing — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Writing quotes (page 277 of 1537)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"In college, I think I probably positioned myself as an aspiring writer, meaning I dressed sort of extravagantly and adopted all the semi-Byronic affectations, as if I were writing, although I wasn't actually doing any writing."
Read quote
3 likes
"The unpublished manuscript is like an uncon-fessed sin that festers in the soul, corrupting and contaminating it."
Read quote
3 likes
"In order to write poetry, you must first invent a poet who will write it."
Read quote
3 likes
"I don't write as many songs as I used to. But, I find myself writing for social media more - times have changed. And I love photography, so a lot of my creative energy gets caught up that way."
Read quote
3 likes
"For 20 years, Simon & Schuster asked me, 'Why don't you write your autobiography?'"
Read quote
3 likes
"Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else."
Read quote
3 likes
"There are, first of all, two kinds of authors: those who write for the subject's sake, and those who write for writing's sake. The first kind have had thoughts or experiences which seem to them worth communicating, while the second kind need money and consequently write for money."
Read quote
3 likes
"A writer should never be brief at the expense of being clear."
Read quote
3 likes
"The little honesty that exists among authors is discernible in the unconscionable way they misquote from the writings of others."
Read quote
3 likes
"There are, first of all, two kinds of authors: those who write for the subject's sake, and those who write for writing's sake."
Read quote
3 likes
"The first rule for a good style is to have something to say; in fact, this in itself is almost enough."
Read quote
3 likes
"He who writes carelessly confesses thereby at the very outset that he does not attach much importance to his own thoughts."
Read quote
3 likes
"There are, first of all, two kinds of authors: those who write for the subject's sake, and those who write for writing's sake. ... The truth is that when an author begins to write for the sake of covering paper, he is cheating the reader; because he writes under the pretext that he has something to say."
Read quote
3 likes
"I am 54 and age is slowly writing itself on my face."
Read quote
3 likes
"If you want to write something of length, however modern and radical, you must live the life of an elderly gentleman of the 1950s."
Read quote
3 likes
"If you want to support a writer, produce the first five plays he writes."
Read quote
3 likes
". . . what happened, of course, was that I was writing a play set in the 1940's that was supposed to be somehow representative of black American life, and I didn't have any women in there. And I knew that wasn't going to work."
Read quote
3 likes
"The impulse to write the poem, that impulse is a great dramatic impulse. But hell, anybody could write a play. I do know this: all writers are not dramatists. You may be a great writer, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're a dramatist. Very few people have done both."
Read quote
3 likes
"There is nothing about myself that I wouldn't reveal or write about. I don't care how horrendous or ridiculous I may appear in person or in print. There is great freedom in not caring what other people think."
Read quote
3 likes