Zen in the Art of Writing Quotes

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.

Zen in the Art of Writing

We need our Arts to teach us how to breathe

Zen in the Art of Writing

We have our Arts so we won't die of Truth

Zen in the Art of Writing

That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.

Zen in the Art of Writing

And metaphors like cats behind your smile, Each one wound up to purr, each one a pride, Each one a fine gold beast you've hid inside (...)

Zen in the Art of Writing

Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine. The landmine is me. After the explosion, I spend the rest of the day putting the pieces together.

Zen in the Art of Writing

Now that I have you thoroughly confused, let me pause to hear your own dismayed cry.

Zen in the Art of Writing

Ours is a culture and a time immensely rich in trash as it is in treasures.

Zen in the Art of Writing

I take this continent with me into the grave.

Zen in the Art of Writing

It is a lie to write in such way as to be rewarded by fame offered you by some snobbish quasi-literary groups in the intellectual gazettes.

Zen in the Art of Writing

Who are your friends? Do they believe in you? Or do they stunt your growth with ridicule and disbelief? If the latter, you haven't friends. Go find some.

Zen in the Art of Writing

I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.

Zen in the Art of Writing

You grow ravenous. You run fevers. You know exhilarations. You can't sleep at night, because your beast-creature ideas want out and turn you in your bed. It is a grand way to live.

Zen in the Art of Writing

We all are rich and ignore the buried fact of accumulated wisdom.

Zen in the Art of Writing

Life is like underwear, should be changed twice a day.

Zen in the Art of Writing

Think of Shakespeare and Melville and you think of thunder, lightning, wind. They all knew the joy of creating in large or small forms, on unlimited or restricted canvases. These are the children of the gods.

Zen in the Art of Writing

Writing is supposed to be difficult, agonizing, a dreadful exercise, a terrible occupation.

Zen in the Art of Writing

Poetry expands the senses and keeps them in prime condition. It keeps you aware of your nose, your eye, your ear, your tongue, your hand.

Zen in the Art of Writing