The 60s passed and faded and I grew older, and in 1987 bought a house in upstate New York, and it turned out that John Brown was buried down the road from my house and that he had lived there…

Quote by Russell Banks

Topics: Russell Banks Quotes

I much prefer working with kids whose life could be completely upended by a reading...

I much prefer working with kids whose life could be completely upended by a reading...

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...

Motivations are too tangled and complex.

Motivations are too tangled and complex.

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

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

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...

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...

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...

The United States particularly abandoned Liberia after the end of the Cold War.

The United States particularly abandoned Liberia after the end of the Cold War.

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...

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...

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...

Nobody does anything for one reason.

Nobody does anything for one reason.

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...

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.

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...

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...

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.

Lists of books we reread and books we can't finish tell more about us than...

Lists of books we reread and books we can't finish tell more about us than...

The best thing about writing programs is that it rationalized the apprenticeship of a writer.

The best thing about writing programs is that it rationalized the apprenticeship of a writer.

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...