As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I am an avid collector of quotes. Something about short snippets of other peoples words inspires me to do more with my own and to be a better person. I’m cheesy. OK? So what?

I saw on Poynter that Chip Scanlan has posted more quotes about writing (or to inspire writing) submitted by writers at a workshop.

Some of these I’ve heard, and in fact the list even includes one of my favorite quotes: “You must be the change you wish to see.” — Gandhi. My favorite quote — the one I have engraved on the back of my iPod as a constant reminder to be a better person — is also by Gandhi; it’s even simpler: “My life is my message.”

For more great writing quotes, check out his entry from last year, “And I Quote.”

Also, I added some of my favorites to the feedback on the post. I’ll post them here also:

“I like the challenge of starting from zero each day and seeing what I can accomplish.” — Martha Stewart

“The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him… a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create — so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.” — Pearl S. Buck

“Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work that goes on. It adds up.” — Barbara Kingsolver

“A job on a newspaper is a special thing. Every day you take something that you found out about, and you put it down and in a matter of hours it becomes a product. Not just a product like a can or something. It is a personal product that people, a lot of people, take the time to sit down and read.” — Jimmy Breslin

“No man is a failure who is enjoying life.” — William Feather

“Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you realize it’s just an illusion, that people are going to bring their own stuff into it.” — David Sedaris

AND FINALLY, I don’t know who said it, but I heard this in a social psychology class a few years back, and it struck me as worth keeping in mind:

“De omnibus dubitandum.”

Translation? “All is to be doubted.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 31st, 2006 at 5:19 pm and is filed under Journalism, Quote. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.