Put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it." (Casual Chance , 1964)
Colette
Related Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author i... COLETTE Anyone who tells you life has greater value when it comes with an expiration date is full of shit. I... G.S. JENNSEN The writer knows his own worth, and to be overvalued can confuse and destroy him as an artist. CHARLES R. JACKSON If you think I give a rat’s ass about that cooler, you don’t know me at all. Nothing I own is wo... DEBRA ANASTASIA You’ve thrown down the gauntlet. You’ve brought my wrath down upon your house. Now, to prove tha... CHUCK PALAHNIUK But then she snapped your neck.” Tears rolled down his face. “And I felt you die,” ... SARAH J. MAAS West Wind #2 You are young. So you know everything. You leap into the boat and begi... MARY OLIVER The ruthless, in the end, are the ones that will succeed. Those not held down by moral, by law,... GENERAL GRIEVOUS “You were just worried about me.” An exhale, relieved that I understood. “Ye... KELLEY ARMSTRONG You were just worried about me." An exhale, relieved that I had understood. "Yeah" I turn... KELLEY ARMSTRONG And, after all, it is style alone by which posterity will judge
of a great work, for an author can ... ISAAC D'ISRAELI A Book I Can Put Down I’m halfway through and I’ve gotten used to the way i... ANTONIA CLARK Ben Adaephon Delat," Pearl said plaintively, "see the last who comes. You send me to my death." STEVEN ERIKSON Forget the girl who had everything. She died when her father did." "But I--" "Nothing is w... JAY KRISTOFF Who hit you?" "Why, so you can go beat him up?" "One of the fringe benefits of being my h... LAURELL K. HAMILTON The compass rose is nothing but a star with an infinite number of rays pointing in all directions. VERA NAZARIAN I thought told you to watch where you put your feet," he said accusingly. Erak shrugged. I did,... JOHN FLANAGAN To my babies, Merry Christmas. I'm sorry if these letters have caught you both by surpris... COLLEEN HOOVER I desired to praise the Chosen One and was hindered By my own inability to grasp the extent of ... IBN JUZAYY AL-KALBI I do not possess the ability to draw or paint. I can’t sing or dance. I can’t knit or ... BRI JUSTINE After all, it is style alone by which posterity will judge of a great work, for an author can have n... ISAAC D'ISRAELI After all, it is style alone by which posterity will judge of a great work, for an author can have n... ISAAC DISRAELI He said 'it's all in your head' and I said 'so's everything' but he didn't get it. FIONA APPLE here I am simply trying to get into your head you think you were born you die what a pity IKKYU What's the matter?" you asked, seizing an idea. "Did I burst your balloon - destroy the fantasy?" CHRIS KRAUS On the late afternoon streets, everyone hurries along, going about their own business. Wh... VERA NAZARIAN Like one Who having into truth, by telling of it, Made such a sinner of his memory, To c... WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE I think of an author as somebody who goes into the marketplace and puts down his rug and says, I wil... ROBERTSON DAVIES All you who are in love Aye and can not remove it I pity the pain that you endure. Fo... MAGGIE STIEFVATER I would like to be the sea I would like to break into millions of pieces and I would like ... JANE FADE MERRICK Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman--a rope over an abyss. A dan... FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE Had I known but yesterday what I know today, I’d have taken out your two gray eyes And p... TAM LIN NEVILLE No one's policing their own minds more than an author. You spend a lot of time in your own head ... TERRY PRATCHETT NFL Head Coach, the third pillar in our NFL portfolio, was developed to satiate all those ... DALE JACKSON How can I judge?" she said at last. "To me, he is a hero. To the world a monster." She let her head ... ROBERT FANNEY This is sams phone" there was a long,heavy pause, and then: "oh." Another pause. "Youre the girl, ar... MAGGIE STIEFVATER He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsm... FRANCIS OF ASSISI I am only one, But still I am one. I cannot do everything, But still I can do something; EDWARD EVERETT HALE WHAT IS TRUTH? Truth is not a thing Or a concept. It is as multidimensional SUZY KASSEM I would not hurt you, little man,' he said. 'I think that I got the disorder in Mullingar... FLANN O'BRIEN Pity the nation whose people are sheep, and whose shepherds mislead them. Pity the nation ... LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI I love you more. I love you enough to let you go and live your dream." I tilted my head and shrugged... S.C. STEPHENS The soul is like an uninhabited world that comes to life only when God lays His head ... THOMAS AQUINAS Why can’t people get along without criticizing one another?” Urashima shakes his head as h... OSAMU DAZAI If he is anything other than a total gentleman, I’m going to gouge his eyes out.” “So you... JOHN GREEN When I’m running, there’s always this split second when the pain is ripping through me and I can... LAUREN OLIVER In your novels do you lie deliberately or just out of ignorance?" Laughter. A murmur of a... JOSé EDUARDO AGUALUSA What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!' Pity? It was Pit... J.R.R. TOLKIEN People are not an interruption of our business. People are our business. A man's worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes. It is hard to look up to a leader who keeps his ear to the ground. The most wasted day of all is that in which we have not laughed. The more intelligent a man is, the more originality he discovers in men. Ordinary people see no diff... The intelligence is proved not by ease of learning, but by understanding what we learn. Communication is something so simple and difficult that we can never put it in simple words. Like threads of silver seen through crystal beads Let love through good deeds show. How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it. In everyone's heart stirs a great homesickness. That is the supreme value of history. The study of it is the best guarantee against repeating it. Our wisdom comes usually from our experience, and our experience comes largely from our experience. One thing about the school of experience is that it will repeat the lesson if you flunk the first ti... To reprove small faults within due vehemence, is as absurd as if a man should take a great hammer to... Faith is like electricity. You can't see it, but you can see the light. Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of... Some families can trace their ancestors back three hundred years, but can't tell you where their chi... A recent survey was said to prove that the people we Americans most admire are our politicians and d... If a man defrauds you one time, he is a rascal; if he does it twice, you are a fool. Flattery looks like friendship, just like a wolf looks like a dog. Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. Courage is always greatest when blended with meekness; intellectual ability is most admired when it ... Freedom also includes the right to mismanage your own affairs. Let your friends be the friends of your deliberate choice. The man who has strong opinions and always says what he thinks is courageous - and friendless. Friendship is love with understanding. So few people think. When we find one who really does, we call him a genius Your life can't go according to plan if you have no plan. Practicing the Golden Rule is not a sacrifice; it is an investment. Conversation is an exercise of the mind; gossip is merely an exercise of the tongue. An expert gossiper knows how much to leave out of a conversation To live so that you would not be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip, is to have li... Gossip is sometimes referred to as halitosis of the mind If you would attain greatness, think no little thoughts. We are born brave, trusting and greedy, and most of us remain greedy. People are changed, not by coercion or intimidation, but by example. Children are natural mimics; they act like their parents in spite of every effort to teach them good... The guilty catch themselves. Good habits are formed; bad habits we fall into. If happiness could be brought, few of us could pay the price. Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have. Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstances. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. Hatred is a boomerang which is sure to hit you harder than the one at whom you throw it. Hate pollutes the mind. If we miraculously became the people we hate, how lovable we would find ourselves. To feel "fit as a fiddle" you must tone down your middle. Our health always seems much more valuable after we lose it. A patient going to a doctor for his first visit was asked, "And whom did you consult before coming t... "Oh," replied his patient, with no malice aforethought, "he told me to come and see you." It is impossible to make wisdom hereditary. Honesty is a question of right or wrong, not a matter of policy.
More Colette
Time spent with a cat is never wasted. COLETTE It's so curious: one can resist tears and 'behave' very well in the hardest hours of grief. But then... COLETTE Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet. COLETTE What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner. COLETTE It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanisms of friendship. COLETTE Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author i... COLETTE It's nothing to be born ugly. Sensibly, the ugly woman comes to terms with her ugliness and exploits... COLETTE You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm. -Colette. COLETTE There are days when solitude is a heady wine that intoxicates you with freedom, others when it is a ... COLETTE Total absence of humor renders life impossible. COLETTE Never touch a butterfly's wing with your finger. COLETTE It takes time for the absent to assume their true shape in our thoughts. After death they take on a ... COLETTE The true traveler is he who goes on foot, and even then, he sits down a lot of the time. COLETTE I love my past. I love my present. I'm not ashamed of what I've had, and I'm not sad because I have ... COLETTE We only do well the things we like doing. COLETTE You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm. COLETTE There are days when solitude, for someone my age, is a heady wine that intoxicates you with freedom,... COLETTE Hope costs nothing. COLETTE A happy childhood is poor preparation for human contacts. COLETTE In its early stages, insomnia is almost an oasis in which those who have to think or suffer darkly t... COLETTE There are no ordinary cats. COLETTE look for a long time at what pleases you, and longer still at what pains you... COLETTE If he's getting married, he's not longer interesting. COLETTE I did not look for her, because I was afraid of dispelling the mystery we attach to people whom we k... COLETTE You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm! COLETTE The more sensitive the lunatic, the less able is he to resist this prying interest of the normal hum... COLETTE To a poet, silence is an acceptable response, even a flattering one. COLETTE When she raises her eyelids, it's as if she were taking off all her clothes. COLETTE The writer who loses his self-doubt, who gives way as he grows old to a sudden euphoria, to prolixit... COLETTE It is the image in the mind that links us to our lost treasures; but it is the loss that shapes the ... COLETTE I went to collect the few personal belongings which...I held to be invaluable: my cat, my resolve to... COLETTE Once a man is on hand, a woman tends to stop believing in her own beliefs. COLETTE DOWLING Relationships are like a dance, with visible energy racing back and forth between partners. Some rel... COLETTE DOWLING No letters after your name are ever going to be a total guarantee of competence any more than they a... COLETTE BOWE No letters after your name are ever going to be a total guarantee of competence any more than they ... COLETTE BOWE Relationships are like a dance, with visible energy racing back and
forth between partners. Some rel... COLETTE DOWLING At the halfway point in the season what we're looking for is making ourselves better and better with... COLETTE QUAM They also learn through songs, rhymes, and lots of literature. We read many books and introduce kids... COLETTE JENSON We are studying ways to challenge the government decision to freeze tariffs. COLETTE NEUVILLE With the upcoming Beijing Olympics and the re-emergence of Shanghai as a great city of the world, de... COLETTE GARNSEY One needs a referee on the value. COLETTE NEUVILLE Those who make a difference...
Know they must be different! COLETTE DEGRAFF Fear (...) that has no relation to capabilities or even to reality is epidemic among women today. Fe... COLETTE DOWLING I assume he is going to try and convince me not to cast my vote. COLETTE NEUVILLE You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm. COLETTE QUAM Watertown is an experienced team, but we were pretty disappointed with the 9-0 score. The 9-0 dual s... COLETTE QUAM Ashley had two really big wins to close out the tournament strong. Her play was definitely the highl... COLETTE QUAM It was every bit of those 40 mile-per-hour winds and it was hot. The heat had begun to take its toll... COLETTE QUAM I cannot accept that the assets of a company can be put beyond the control of its managers. COLETTE NEUVILLE I have been contacted by shareholders -- French and foreign ... who are worried that some decisions ... COLETTE NEUVILLE It's always nice when we get younger siblings of students we already have. COLETTE JENSON They have been very accommodating over the past six years. They give us tons of space and access to ... COLETTE JENSON We never set out to make a dinner theater. COLETTE HILL It's important the guests eat dinner and enjoy each other's company. COLETTE HILL It's a disaster. I've lived all over Canada and it's the worst ice storm I've ever seen. COLETTE FONTAINE Never touch a butterfly's wing with your finger. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE What a delight it is to make friends with someone you have
despised! SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE A pretty little collection of weaknesses and a terror of spiders are our indispensable stock-in-trad... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Girls usually have a paper mâché face on their wedding day. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE I love my past, I love my present. I am not ashamed of what I have had, and I am not sad because I n... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Look for a long time at what pleases you, and a longer time at what pains you. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE The woman who thinks she is intelligent demands equal rights with men. A woman who is intelligent do... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanism of friendship. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE And what a delight it is to make friends with someone you have despised. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE But just as delicate fare does not stop you from craving for saveloys, so tried and exquisite friend... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE My true friends have always given me that supreme proof of devotion, a spontaneous aversion for the ... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE The writer who loses his self-doubt, who gives way as he grows old to a sudden euphoria, to prolixit... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE You do not notice changes in what is always before you. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE On this narrow planet, we have only the choice between two unknown worlds. One of them tempts us --a... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE There is no need to waste pity on young girls who are having their moments of disillusionment, for i... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE It is not a bad thing that children should occasionally, and politely, put parents in their place. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE To a poet, silence is an acceptable response, even a flattering one. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE You must not pity me because my sixtieth year finds me still astonished. To be astonished is one of ... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE One keeps forgetting old age up to the very brink of the grave. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Among all the modernized aspects of the most luxurious of industries, the model, a vestige of volupt... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE January, month of empty pockets! Let us endure this evil month, anxious as a theatrical producer's f... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Is suffering so very serious? I have come to doubt it. It may be quite childish, a sort of undignifi... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Smokers, male and female, inject and excuse idleness in their lives every time they light a cigarett... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE The lovesick, the betrayed, and the jealous all smell alike. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Sincerity is not a spontaneous flower nor is modesty either. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE No temptation can ever be measured by the value of its object. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Jealousy is not at all low, but it catches us humbled and bowed down, at first sight. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Can it be that chance has made me one of those women so immersed in one man that, whether they are b... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Voluptuaries, consumed by their senses, always begin by flinging themselves with a great display of ... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE In the matter of furnishing, I find a certain absence of ugliness far worse than ugliness. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE It's nothing to be born ugly. Sensibly, the ugly woman comes to terms with her ugliness and exploits... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Shall we never have done with that cliche, so stupid that it could only be human, about the sympathy... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE It takes time for the absent to assume their true shape in our thoughts. After death they take on a ... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Researchers, with science as their authority, will be able to cut Animals up, alive, into small piec... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE As for an authentic villain, the real thing, the absolute, the artist, one rarely meets him even onc... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Is suffering so very serious? I have come to doubt it. It may be quite childish, a sort of undignifi... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Voluptuaries, consumed by their senses, always begin by flinging themselves with a great display of ... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE January, month of empty pockets! let us endure this evil month, anxious as a theatrical producer'... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE I am going away with him to an unknown country where I shall have no past and no name, and where I s... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Dr. Gunther talked about passing the baton to others and that is what we are doing. We hope we have ... COLETTE JENKINS PARKER I believe there are more urgent and honorable occupations than the incomparable waste of time we cal... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE In its early stages, insomnia is almost an oasis in which those who have to think or suffer darkly t... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE There are days when solitude is a heady wine that intoxicates you with freedom, others when it is a ... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE A happy childhood is poor preparation for human contacts. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE A woman who thinks she is intelligent demands the same rights as man. An intelligent woman gives up. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Researchers, with science as their authority, will be able to cut [Animals] up, alive, into small pi... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE It's so curious: one can resist tears and 'behave' very well in the hardest hours of grief. But then... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Voluptuaries, consumed by their senses, always begin by flinging themselves with a great display of ... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE The day after that wedding night I found that a distance of a thousand miles, abyss and discovery an... SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Total absence of humor renders life impossible. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Writing only leads to more writing. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE Be happy. It's one way of being wise. SIDONIE GABRIELLE COLETTE We have thoughts of designing a curriculum for the schools here that includes the history of the civ... COLETTE JENKINS PARKER After looking at the big picture, we've decided it has run its course. COLETTE JENKINS PARKER