I Write, Therefore... I Quote

What makes a quote really good? More than good, what makes it memorable, powerful, even magical?

Simply answered, the curse and the beauty of words lie in the eye of the beholder.

How many books have you opened and the first thing you see before you get to page one is a short quote or two. There’s even a special word for them in literary circles. For what it’s worth, they’re called epigraphs. Some are intriguing and set the table for the main course to come. Others, like an unknown poem or ancient text, can be so vague and mystifying as to be next to meaningless. Am I supposed to be impressed? Am I really supposed to know what that means?

On the other hand, when someone says something that strikes deep and strikes a nerve, there’s nothing better.

I have always enjoyed a clever quote, a few choice words once spoken or written that, for whatever reason, reveal a spark of uncommon wit and wisdom that taps into my own truth. More than once I have used what I considered a good quote to punch up a short piece of my own writing. Like this:

“Good writing consists of trying to use ordinary words to achieve extraordinary results.” -- James Michener

The right quote operates on two levels. At first reading, it makes its point, plain and simple. At least it better. But then there’s just a moment where your mind flits back to what it just read and says, ‘Hmm. I like that. That works.’ It’s clever, but it’s true.’ And following the idea of author Stephen King that writing is refined thinking, well, why not borrow someone else’s thinking and add it to the mix? Why not plug in a thought or two from some of the masters of the craft to build up your own writing when you need it.

“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne

I collect quotes. Touching on all sorts of topics. I write them down in a notebook dedicated to just that purpose, and I would suggest everyone do the same. Whenever I come across a quote that makes me pause and speaks to me, I write it down. Gathered together in one place like that, they’re a wonderful touchstone of inspiration and guidance whenever good things try to run and hide — and sooner or later they always do.

I do my best work with words (as opposed to, say, drywall or computer programs), so many of my favorite quotes reflect, as you can see, on the craft of writing. With that in mind, and with a respectful nod to Rene Descartes’ famous meditation, “I think, therefore I am,” I offer a few more of my top iterations by writers on writing to help guide and prompt the pursuit of my craft. I write, therefore…

“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” — Richard Bach

“Writing is easy. It’s the words that are hard.” — Mark Twain

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”- Benjamin Franklin

“It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.” — Ernest Hemingway

“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” — Mark Twain

“The first draft of anything is shit.” — Ernest Hemingway

“God gives you the best plots.” — Norman Mailer

“That’s not writing, that’s typing.” — Truman Capote

“If a story is in you, it has to come out” — William Faulkner