Writers take words seriously-perhaps the last professional class that does-and they struggle to steer their own through the crosswinds of meddling editors and careless typesetters and obtuse and malevolent reviewers into the lap of the ideal reader.

Quote by John Updike

Topics: Writers Quotes

We are most alive when we're in love.

We are most alive when we're in love.

Most of American life consists of driving somewhere and then returning home, wondering why the...

Most of American life consists of driving somewhere and then returning home, wondering why the...

To say that war is madness is like saying that sex is madness: true enough,...

To say that war is madness is like saying that sex is madness: true enough,...

I love my government not least for the extent to which it leaves me alone.

I love my government not least for the extent to which it leaves me alone.

The Founding Fathers in their wisdom decided that children were an unnatural strain on parents....

The Founding Fathers in their wisdom decided that children were an unnatural strain on parents....

Our brains are no longer conditioned for reverence and awe. We cannot imagine a Second...

Our brains are no longer conditioned for reverence and awe. We cannot imagine a Second...

Golf appeals to the idiot in us and the child. Just how childlike golf players...

Golf appeals to the idiot in us and the child. Just how childlike golf players...

Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self-solitude is the enemy of well-being.

Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self-solitude is the enemy of well-being.

Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better.

Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better.

Until the 20th century it was generally assumed that a writer had said what he...

Until the 20th century it was generally assumed that a writer had said what he...

But for a few phrases from his letters and an odd line or two of...

But for a few phrases from his letters and an odd line or two of...

What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit.

What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit.

The city overwhelmed our expectations. The Kiplingesque grandeur of Waterloo Station, the Eliotic despondency of...

The city overwhelmed our expectations. The Kiplingesque grandeur of Waterloo Station, the Eliotic despondency of...

Golf appeals to the idiot in us and the child. Just how childlike golf players...

Golf appeals to the idiot in us and the child. Just how childlike golf players...

The creative writer uses his life as well as being its victim; he can control,...

The creative writer uses his life as well as being its victim; he can control,...

Government is either organized benevolence or organized madness; its peculiar magnitude permits no shading.

Government is either organized benevolence or organized madness; its peculiar magnitude permits no shading.

Sex is like money; only too much is enough.

Sex is like money; only too much is enough.

Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the...

Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the...

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.

I'm a passionate believer in the inherent creativity possessed by all people and our inherent...

I'm a passionate believer in the inherent creativity possessed by all people and our inherent...