My major allegiance has been to storytelling, not to history.

Quote by Russell Banks

Topics: Russell Banks Quotes

I don't want it to be all that self-conscious or artificial, but it really grows...

I don't want it to be all that self-conscious or artificial, but it really grows...

Nobody does anything for one reason.

Nobody does anything for one reason.

Storytelling is an ancient and honorable act. An essential role to play in the community...

Storytelling is an ancient and honorable act. An essential role to play in the community...

What I am finding now is that my audience is getting younger as I get...

What I am finding now is that my audience is getting younger as I get...

If you dedicate your attention to discipline in your life you become smarter while you...

If you dedicate your attention to discipline in your life you become smarter while you...

I began as a boy with artistic talent... as a visual artist... I thought that...

I began as a boy with artistic talent... as a visual artist... I thought that...

So the same cultural and political issues that divided us in 1968 are still dividing...

So the same cultural and political issues that divided us in 1968 are still dividing...

And there are people who want to be writers because they love to write. And...

And there are people who want to be writers because they love to write. And...

A couple of years I taught in graduate programs at NYU and Columbia, in the...

A couple of years I taught in graduate programs at NYU and Columbia, in the...

Motivations are too tangled and complex.

Motivations are too tangled and complex.

But really, it was reading that led me to writing. And in particular, reading the...

But really, it was reading that led me to writing. And in particular, reading the...

Through writing, through that process, they realize that they become more intelligent, and more honest...

Through writing, through that process, they realize that they become more intelligent, and more honest...

But on the other hand, I don't actively seek out stories or hunt them down.

But on the other hand, I don't actively seek out stories or hunt them down.

John Brown first swam into my vision in the 1960s when I was a political...

John Brown first swam into my vision in the 1960s when I was a political...

And out of a desire essentially to imitate what I was reading, I began to...

And out of a desire essentially to imitate what I was reading, I began to...

It's hard to spend years at a time working in total solitude with no reality-check.

It's hard to spend years at a time working in total solitude with no reality-check.

First of all it's usually women who run these higher primate sanctuaries, rarely men. They...

First of all it's usually women who run these higher primate sanctuaries, rarely men. They...

For almost anyone who chooses to be a writer, since so very few writers are...

For almost anyone who chooses to be a writer, since so very few writers are...

Although I still occasionally paint and draw, my life has now been shaped by my...

Although I still occasionally paint and draw, my life has now been shaped by my...

One of the things I have tried to do with this book and with all...

One of the things I have tried to do with this book and with all...