Faithfulness to the past can be a kind of death above ground. Writing of the past is a resurrection; the past then lives in your words and you are free.

Quote by Jessamyn West

Topics: Jessamyn West Quotes

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions. When they don't it is easier to...

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions. When they don't it is easier to...

Justice is a terrible but necessary thing.

Justice is a terrible but necessary thing.

Writing is a solitary occupation. Family, friends, and society are the natural enemies of the...

Writing is a solitary occupation. Family, friends, and society are the natural enemies of the...

Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.

Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.

It is very easy to forgive others their mistakes; it takes more grit and gumption...

It is very easy to forgive others their mistakes; it takes more grit and gumption...

Sleeplessness is a desert without vegetation or inhabitants.

Sleeplessness is a desert without vegetation or inhabitants.

The sick soon come to understand that they live in a different world from that...

The sick soon come to understand that they live in a different world from that...

The sick soon come to understand that they live in a different world from that...

The sick soon come to understand that they live in a different world from that...

It is very east to forgive others their mistakes; it takes more grit and gumption...

It is very east to forgive others their mistakes; it takes more grit and gumption...

A religious awakening which does not awaken the sleeper to love has roused him in...

A religious awakening which does not awaken the sleeper to love has roused him in...

I've done more harm by the falseness of trying to please than by the honesty...

I've done more harm by the falseness of trying to please than by the honesty...

Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely necessary.

Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely necessary.

In their sympathies, children feel nearer animals than adults.

In their sympathies, children feel nearer animals than adults.

The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.

The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.

A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor,...

A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor,...

There are two barriers that often prevent communication between the young and their elders. The...

There are two barriers that often prevent communication between the young and their elders. The...

The West is color. Its colors are animal rather than vegetable, the colors of earth...

The West is color. Its colors are animal rather than vegetable, the colors of earth...

A rattlesnake that doesn't bite teaches you nothing.

A rattlesnake that doesn't bite teaches you nothing.

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions. When they don't it is easier to...

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions. When they don't it is easier to...

Teaching is the royal road to learning.

Teaching is the royal road to learning.