The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.

Quote by John Steinbeck

Topics: Writers Quotes

Maybe there ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue, they's just what people does....

Maybe there ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue, they's just what people does....

The American girl makes a servant of her husband and then finds him contemptible for...

The American girl makes a servant of her husband and then finds him contemptible for...

Time is the only critic without ambition.

Time is the only critic without ambition.

So in our pride we ordered for breakfast an omelet, toast and coffee and what...

So in our pride we ordered for breakfast an omelet, toast and coffee and what...

In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable.

In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable.

It has always seemed strange to me... the things we admire in men, kindness and...

It has always seemed strange to me... the things we admire in men, kindness and...

Syntax, my lad. It has been restored to the highest place in the republic.

Syntax, my lad. It has been restored to the highest place in the republic.

A sad soul can kill quicker than a germ.

A sad soul can kill quicker than a germ.

It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of...

It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of...

Four hoarse blasts of a ship's whistle still raise the hair on my neck and...

Four hoarse blasts of a ship's whistle still raise the hair on my neck and...

Four hoarse blasts of a ship's whistle still raise the hair on my neck and...

Four hoarse blasts of a ship's whistle still raise the hair on my neck and...

Man, unlike anything organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up...

Man, unlike anything organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up...

I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything.

I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything.

It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the...

It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the...

Man is the only kind of varmint sets his own trap, baits it, then steps...

Man is the only kind of varmint sets his own trap, baits it, then steps...

If you're in trouble, or hurt or need - go to the poor people. They're...

If you're in trouble, or hurt or need - go to the poor people. They're...

It has always been my private conviction that any man who puts his intelligence up...

It has always been my private conviction that any man who puts his intelligence up...

It is the nature of a man as he grows older- to protest against change,...

It is the nature of a man as he grows older- to protest against change,...

I do not agree that an age of pleasure is no compensation for a moment...

I do not agree that an age of pleasure is no compensation for a moment...

Jesus died too soon. If he had lived to my age he would have repudiated...

Jesus died too soon. If he had lived to my age he would have repudiated...

My garden, like my life, seems to me every year to want correction and require...

My garden, like my life, seems to me every year to want correction and require...

I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal....

I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal....