Thirteen of my favorite quotes (mostly writing), some of which may or may not have appeared on this blog before:

1. Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody is watching. (Mark Twain)

2. The difference between a good book and a great book is typically only a few sentences.
(Annie Jones, aka Annie Flannigan)

3. If you can’t annoy somebody, there is little point in writing. (Kingsley Amis)

4. Think hard. Be honest with yourself. Are the stakes in your current manuscripts as high as they can possibly be? Can you define the stakes right now? Can you point to the exact pages in which the stakes escalate, locking your protagonist into his course of action with less hope of success than before? (Donald Maass - Writing the Breakout Novel)

5. Don’t market yourself. Editors and readers don’t know what they want until they see it. Scratch what itches. Write what you need to write, feed the hunger for meaning in your life. Play at the serious questions of life or death. (Donald M. Murray)

6. I need to write to be happy. (Nora Roberts)

7. Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.(Calvin Coolidge)

8. Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.
(Graham Greene)

9. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. (Albert Einstein)

10. I don’t think it’s very useful to open wide the door for young artists; the ones who break down the door are more interesting. (Paul Schrader)

11. Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it. (Josephus Daniels)

12. We do things my way. There is no highway option. (Vin Diesel in the Pacifier)

13. Anyone can just go in there and kill someone, but you can’t get information from a corpse. (SEAL motto) (Hey, how did Jake sneak in here?)

Steph T.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. Caylynn
2. ali
3. Michelle
4. Chickadee
5. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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