Favorite Quotes That Inspire
Earlier in the week, Terry blogged about how reading novels can inspire writers. Today, we’re going to tighten that scope to a sentence or two.
A quote by Henry David Thoreau that inspires me so much I have stenciled it on the border in my office is “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” When I have a bad writing day, I glance up to those words, and I’m inspired. When I fret over sending out another manuscript or entering a writing contest in the hope of getting some chapters in front of an editor, I read those words. They give me courage.
Is there a favorite quote that inspires you? Share it with us.
A quote by Henry David Thoreau that inspires me so much I have stenciled it on the border in my office is “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” When I have a bad writing day, I glance up to those words, and I’m inspired. When I fret over sending out another manuscript or entering a writing contest in the hope of getting some chapters in front of an editor, I read those words. They give me courage.
Is there a favorite quote that inspires you? Share it with us.
Labels: inspiration to write, Maureen Hardegree
posted by Mo H @ 8:01 AM
15 Comments:
My favorite favorite is Anne Tyler: "I write because I want more than one life."
I also like the one that says, "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?"
Great quotes, Mary! And so applicable to those of us who write. Think of all the lives we live with our characters.
One of my favorite quotes is by Albert Einstein:
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
I'm sure he was referring to the way we approach science, but I think it applies to writing, too.
Writing the first draft of a book should be guided by our creativity. Set logic aside and save it for doing revisions. ;)
What a great quote, Lee! And you're so right, we've got to turn off that inner editor in the first draft.
"What is opportunity and when does it knock? It never knocks. You can wait a whole lifetime, listening, hoping, and you will hear no knocking. None at all. You are opportunity, and you must knock on the door leading to your destiny. You prepare yourself to recognize opportunity, to pursue and seize opportunity as you develop the strength of your personality, and build a self-image with which you are able to live—with your self-respect alive and growing." –Maxwell Maltz
"Don't wait. The time will never be right." –Napoleon Hill
I love inspirational quotes. I have a Mary Engelbreit calendar with a different quote for each day.:)
Oooh, I like those quotes, Mary!
Lee, how cool is Albert Einstein? Love that quote, too!
Gillian, both quotes gave me chills! Love these!
I like all the short quotes like:
Just do it!
You are what you think
No Fear!
I also like the first part of Marianne Williamson's quote because I think a lot of us are ruled partly by fear...fear of failure, fear of success, fear of speaking up, fear of being judged, etc.:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"
Wow, more great inspiring quotes!
Thanks Gillian and Theresa for sharing yours!
My favorite quote?
"Never, never, never give up"
Winston Churchill
I sign up for daily inspirational quotes. Today's is by Mark Twain, "Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip."
Diane, I saw that one on a plaque at Stein Mart of all places, and thought of you.
Another one I like is "It's never too late to be what you might have been." I have that one in my guest room but am too lazy to get up and go see who said it.
Wow, fantastic and inspiring quotes! Love the Twain, O Divine One. I would not have been able to sell my late, great parrot to the town gossip. Beethoven spent a lot of time "talking" to my students when I taught high school English and history. They taught him many, many words I did NOT want him to know! And they always learn those first and forget them last!
This is my favorite quote by Byron. It reminds me of the profound endeavor that is writing.
But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think;
'Tis strange, the shortest letter which man uses
Instead of speech, may form a lasting link
Of ages; to what straits old Time reduces
Frail man, when paper - even a rag like this -
Survives himself, his tomb, and all that's his.
I have so many...
You can see some of my favorites on my Facebook profile, where I have about 30 quotes in my Random Quotes file:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1006337790
Diane,
Like Mary, I think of you whenever I see the Churchill quote. You have one of the most inspirational publishing stories about not giving up. The Twain quote about the parrot is a hoot! :)
Mary,
I'm so glad I'm not the only one stenciling quotes on walls! And if any of our readers are interested in how to do it, I'm pretty sure I wrote an article on stenciling for the WNP e-zine. It should be in the archives.
Louisa,
Your Byron quote was fabulous in so many ways. What a beautiful way he had of expressing himself. My favorite poem of his is "She Walks in Beauty." One of my students, way back in the day, modeled his own poem about his girlfriend after Byron's poem. He did a fabulous job. After much cajoling, because he was an athlete, he read it to the rest of the class.
Loved the story about your parrot!
Mary, I have to confess I was thinking, "Why did Steinmart have that parrot quote by Mark Twain?" It took me a while to figure it out.
My friend Mary Blayney gave me a little needlepoint pillow with that quote. The never give up one, that is...
When I worked with the elderly, I posted that quote in my office, Mary: "It is never to late to be what you might have been." My clients didn't know it was for me as much as for them!
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