If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in bea...
Without realizing what she was doing and more on an impulse than anything else, she leaned forward and kissed him. It was a simple, yet firm kiss and she pulled back after only a moment. But it sent a thrill through her. He leaned down for another. B...
Almost every time I speak to teenagers, particularly young female students who want to talk to me about feminism, I find myself staggered by how much they have read, how creatively they think and how curiously bullshit-resistant they are. Because of ...
There are a lot of ways for a novelist to create suspense, but also really only two: one a trick, one an art. The trick is to keep a secret. Or many secrets, even. In Lee Child’s books, Jack Reacher always has a big mystery to crack, but there are ...
So long as you believe yourself to be 'only human' you have accepted life in a prison cell whose door remains locked only by your own mind. By saying, 'well, I'm only human', you have blindly submitted to all the limitations, fears, pettiness, greed ...
[longer introduction to "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"] Narrator: And now we're going to hear a piece of music that tells a very definite story. As a matter of fact, in this case, the story came first and the composer wrote the music to go with it. It's...
Caden Cotard: I wanted to ask you, how old are kids when they start to write? Madeleine Gravis: Listen, there's an absolutely brilliant novel written by a four year old. Caden Cotard: Really? Madeleine Gravis: 'Little Winky" by Horace Azpiazu. Caden ...
She’s contemplative; I can feel the air around her thick with her thoughts. “No,” she says at last, “I want to believe you’re being sincere but I know you’re not. So I say no, because even if I allow myself to fantasize a little about our...
Forgiveness. The ability to forgive oneself. Stop here for a few breaths and think about this because it is the key to making art, and very possibly the key to finding any semblance of happiness in life. Every time I have set out to translate the boo...
[after Harry almost dies in the First Task] Ron: I reckon you'd have to be barking mad to put your own name in the Goblet of Fire. Harry: [coldly] Caught on, have you? Took you long enough. Ron: I wasn't the only one who thought you'd done it. Everyo...
Sophie à 8 ans: What'll you be when you grow up? Julien à 8 ans: A tyrant! Sophie à 8 ans: A tyrant? Your people subjugated? Julien à 8 ans: Totally! With a harem, slaves, and torture every Thursday! Sophie à 8 ans: Cool! Julien à 8 ans: And yo...
Annie Wilkes: Here's your pills. Paul Sheldon: Annie? Annie, what is it? Annie Wilkes: The rain. Sometimes it gives me the blues. When you first came here, I only loved the writer part of Paul Sheldon. Now I know I love the rest of him, too. I know y...
Rod Lane: [after tackling Glen on the lawn] It's Rod Lane, bringing Lantz down, just three yards from the goal line! What a brilliant tackle and the crowd goes wild! Tina Gray: What the hell are you doing here? Rod Lane: Came to make up. No big deal....
Maya: You know, can I ask you a personal question, Miles? Miles Raymond: Sure. Maya: Why are you so in to Pinot? Miles Raymond: [laughs softly] Maya: I mean, it's like a thing with you. Miles Raymond: [continues laughing softly] Miles Raymond: Uh, I ...
David Shayne: I've become involved with Helen Sinclair, and I feel terrible. But I can't help myself. She's so charismatic, and she's brilliant and beautiful. I mean, a real artist, and, and we speak the same language. Sheldon Flender: You're wracked...
The Doctor. He grabbed hold of Rory's ankle, dragging him protesting out from under the table. 'Rory!' he grinned, wrapping him in an enourmous bear hug that squeezed the breath out of him. 'I've been you!' 'Right,' mumbled Rory. 'You've had a gorgeo...
He turned toward the bookshelf, his back to her, saying nothing. He held out one hand and she gave him the Eliot to shelve. His voice was rough. “‘Our words have wings, but fly not where we would.’” Caroline stepped back into her heels. “I ...
Do you see, Harry? Do you see the flaw in my brilliant plan now? I had fallen into the trap I had foreseen, that I had told myself I could avoid, that I must avoid.” “I don’t —” “I cared about you too much,” said Dumbledore simply. “I...
Ron: [as Harry lays unconcious] Looks a bit peaky, doesn't he? Fred Weasley: Peaky? What'd you expect him to look like? He fell fifty feet. George Weasley: Yeah, c'mon, Ron. We'll walk you off the Astronomy Tower and see how you come out looking. Har...
Ron Weasley: It's beautiful, isn't it? The moon. Harry Potter: Divine. Had ourselves a little late night snack, did we? Ron Weasley: It was on your bed, the box, I just thought I'd try one. Harry Potter: Or twenty. Ron Weasley: I can't stop thinking ...
