I found an old notebook as I was trying to give some order to the stuff that is stored in the attic. I always sit as comfortably as possible when this happens because I end up reading the whole notebook in remembrance of things past.

These are quotes I had jotted in some entries and they added up to twelve of my favorite quotes about thinking and writing. Most of them are by my favorite poets and writers. I decided I would use them to remind me of what will be most important throughout this brand new blogging  year.

I hope you find some worthy of adopting for your use.

1. “A poem is never finished only abandoned.”

– Paul Valery

* I found a few poems I abandoned and will work on them again.

2. “As for style of writing, if one has anything to say, it drops from him simply and directly, as a stone falls to the ground.”

– Henry David Thoreau

3. “The act of writing is the act of discovering what you believe.”

– David Hare

* This has been so true for me personally.

4. “When everyone is against you, it means that you are absolutely wrong – or absolutely right.”

– Albert Guinan

5. ““Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.”
– Virginia Woolf

*Her life too.

6. “How do I know what I think until I see what I say.”

–  E. M. Forster

7. “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you”

– Maya Angelou

8. ““Delay is natural to a writer. He is like a surfer — he bides his time, waits for the perfect wave on which to ride in. Delay is instinctive with him. He waits for the surge (of emotion? of strength? of courage?) that will carry him along.”

– E.B. White

9. “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”

– Emily Dickinson

10. “Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.”

– Buddha

* I try to write with this purpose.

11. “To live a creative life we must first lose the fear of being wrong.”

– Joseph Chilton Pearce

* Fear does take over sometimes. It is usually the fear that was instilled in me by my seventh grade teacher. I always her voice inside my head. “Be clear and precise and for heavens sake be careful with your grammar.”

12. ““There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.”

– Beatrix Potter

* I loved her books as a kid.

Happy Blogging!

Melba Christie