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Just for fun!

I love quotations and find that often an apt quotation will say exactly what I am feeling, but struggling to express in my own words. When you find an apt quotation that suits your mood, or expresses your feelings about an event that happened, post it here and share with everyone.

The one on my desk calendar at work today seems particularly apt, considering some of other forum comments. "Aggressive people have plenty of 'pushing power', but very little 'pulling power'." - P.K. Shaw. I must admit I had a giggle when I saw that, immediately after reading the forum today.

My other favourite quote is: "When a dog runs at you, whistle for him." - Henry David Thoreau. I think this quote is always pertinent!

Let's have some fun and share quotations. Has any one got any favourite ones on writing?

Hayley

Love this thread! I have lots of favourite quotes.

I am a bit of a procrastinator, and I love this one from John Lennon: "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted."

Look forward to seeing some more on this thread!
Su

I'm blanking on his name, but a very funny crotchety old poet who came to the Naropa University summer writing workshop used to say, "If you don't have a pencil, use a piece of charcoal. If you don't have a piece of charcoal, use a bloody finger."

I love quotes and keep collections of them in files on my computer and off. My daughter graduated from Ohio University, so imagine my delight when I found this one:

“I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top.” —Ohio University English professor (name unknown)

I hope Ed gets a smile from it, too.

Mine is taped to the monitor and I see it every morning when I'm working on my novel.

"Finish something, so you know you can."

It helped me get through the first draft and the second. I'm in third now and it still spurs me on.
After so many starts over the years, I actually finished something. And for me, it's a huge thing.

Lor

I can't remember exactly how it goes or who said it, but it is something like:

"Boring women don't make history."

I think that's my excuse to be eccentric!

Jenn

Yes, I love this.
“I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top.” —Ohio University English professor (name unknown)

I had one quote two weeks ago that I was going to post. In trying to find it (and failing) I found a lot of quotes about errors. So I'll just share some appropriate ones.

“An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.” Ghandi

“Unreasonable haste is the direct road to error.” Moliere

I love this quote, and it has served me well in all my years writing: "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." -- Jack London

Love it so much I had postcards made based around it and that's what I use to keep in touch with fellow writers by mail.

~nw

I love quotes about writing by writers. Here's two of my favorites. I'm a sucker for the the poetic.

"... the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the music the words make." Truman Capote. (Not suitable for writing web content, however.)

"If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry." Emily Dickinson

Lor

One of my favorites is a bit of a cliche but it's true:
"You're either part of the solution or part of the problem." - Eldridge Cleaver 1968

Here is another favorite quote from the book On Writing Well by William Zinsser.

"As a non-fiction writer you must get on the plane. If a subject interests you, go after it, even it’s in the next county or the next state or the next country. It’s not going to come looking for you. Decide what you want to do. Then decide to do it. Then do it."—William Zinsser

[quote="JKALLEN"]I can't remember exactly how it goes or who said it, but it is something like:

"Boring women don't make history."

I think that's my excuse to be eccentric!

Jenn[/quote]

Hi Jenn,

Perhaps the quote you're refering to is, "Well-behaved women seldom make history." Laurel Ulrich

Hi all,

Interesting responses - I hope this thread continues!

I found one about writing that says it all:

"In a thousand words I can have the Lord's Prayer, the 23rd Psalm, the Hippocratic Oath, a sonnet by Shakespeare, the Preamble to the Constitution, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and almost all of the Boy Scout Oath. Now exactly what picture were you planning to trade for all that?" - Roy H. Williams

Hayley

Topdycke,

EUREKA!!! That's it exactly, thanks!

Jenn

A few years ago my husband and I created a freelance website for contact info, mainly. The whole thing needs a revamp, and the only thing we really like about it are the quotes. I dug up several dozen quotes about writing and every time you refresh the page a new one pops up. Below are a few of my favorites.

The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say.
Mark Twain

We don't write what we know. We write what we wonder about.
Richard Peck

Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say.
Sharon O'Brien

Be obscure clearly.
E. B. White