The narrative was too constricted; it was like a fetus strangling on its own umbilical cord.

Quote by John Gregory Dunne

Topics: Literature Quotes

What a writer brings to any story is an attitude

What a writer brings to any story is an attitude

Writing is manual labor of the mind: a job, like laying pipe.

Writing is manual labor of the mind: a job, like laying pipe.

Writing is manual labor of the mind: a job, like laying pipe.

Writing is manual labor of the mind: a job, like laying pipe.

Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies...

Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies...

Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will...

Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will...

I cannot tell what the dickens his name is

I cannot tell what the dickens his name is

One should be able to return to the first sentence of a novel and find...

One should be able to return to the first sentence of a novel and find...

In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.

In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.

Literature is the question minus the answer.

Literature is the question minus the answer.

Literature is the orchestration of platitudes.

Literature is the orchestration of platitudes.

The crown of literature is poetry.

The crown of literature is poetry.

Literature was formerly an art and finance a trade; today it is the reverse

Literature was formerly an art and finance a trade; today it is the reverse

Literature is the safe and traditional vehicle through which we learn about the world and...

Literature is the safe and traditional vehicle through which we learn about the world and...

Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will...

Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will...

Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.

Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.

Whoever is able to write a book and does not, it is as if he...

Whoever is able to write a book and does not, it is as if he...

The answers you get from literature depend on the questions you pose

The answers you get from literature depend on the questions you pose

I this day was spectator of the most magnificent Triumph that certainly ever floted on...

I this day was spectator of the most magnificent Triumph that certainly ever floted on...

To achieve lasting literature, fictional or factual, a writer needs perceptive vision, absorptive capacity, and...

To achieve lasting literature, fictional or factual, a writer needs perceptive vision, absorptive capacity, and...

Violence commands both literature and life, and violence is always crude and distorted.

Violence commands both literature and life, and violence is always crude and distorted.