We're always attracted to the edges of what we are, out by the edges where it's a little raw and nervy.

Quote by E L Doctorow

Topics: E L Doctorow Quotes

It's like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but...

It's like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but...

Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time...

Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time...

Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing,...

Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing,...

I thought I would lose, so I didn't prepare a speech.

I thought I would lose, so I didn't prepare a speech.

Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time...

Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time...

History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people...

History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people...

There is no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there's only narrative.

There is no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there's only narrative.

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.

Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time...

Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time...

Like art and politics, gangsterism is a very important avenue of assimilation into society.

Like art and politics, gangsterism is a very important avenue of assimilation into society.

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far...

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far...

I try to avoid experience if I can. Most experience is bad.

I try to avoid experience if I can. Most experience is bad.

In the twentieth century one of the most personal relationships to have developed is that...

In the twentieth century one of the most personal relationships to have developed is that...

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

I can walk into a bookstore and hand over my credit card and they don't...

I can walk into a bookstore and hand over my credit card and they don't...

The writer isn't made in a vacuum. Writers are witnesses. The reason we need writers...

The writer isn't made in a vacuum. Writers are witnesses. The reason we need writers...

A born writer is born scrofulous; his career is an accident dictated by physical or...

A born writer is born scrofulous; his career is an accident dictated by physical or...

When you take stuff from one writer it's plagiarism; but when you take it from...

When you take stuff from one writer it's plagiarism; but when you take it from...

The writer, when he is also an artist, is someone who admits what others don't...

The writer, when he is also an artist, is someone who admits what others don't...