But in the dying
But in the dying world I come from quotation is a national vice. No one would think of making an after-dinner speech without the help of poetry. It used to be the classics, now it’s lyric verse. Evelyn Waugh
Quotations
In the dying world
In the dying world I come from, quotation is a national vice. Evelyn Waugh
I always have strong
I always have strong feelings when I’m writing a book. Sometimes when I’m writing a book, I even cry when I’m writing. Once I read a quotation that I thought was very true for me, which is: No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. Eve Bunting
The habit some writers
The habit some writers indulge in of perpetual quotation is one it behooves lovers of good literature to protest against, for it is an insidious habit which in the end must cloud the stream of thought, or at least check spontaneity. If it be true that le style c’est l homme, what is likely to … Read more
No doubt other writers
No doubt other writers have often put a thing more brilliantly, more subtly than even a very cunning artist in words can hope to emulate, a supreme phrase being a bit of luck that only happens now and then. And inasmuch as the condiments and secret travail of human nature are always the same, and … Read more
the writer must resist
the writer must resist this temptation [to quote] and do his best with his own tools. It would be most convenient for us musicians if, arrived at a given emotional crisis in our work, we could simply stick in a few bars of Brahms or Schubert. Indeed many composers have no hesitation in so doing. … Read more
the majority of critical,
the majority of critical, and plenty of uncritical, readers find quotations a bore. Ethel Smyth
Life cannot be captured
Life cannot be captured in a few axioms. And that is just what I keep trying to do. But it won’t work, for life is full of endless nuances and cannot be captured in just a few formulae. Etty Hillesum
It isn’t much of
It isn’t much of a book of quotations if I am not in it. Ernie J Zelinski
Like italics and hyphens,
Like italics and hyphens, quotation marks are to be used as sparingly as possible. They should light the way, not darken it. Eric Partridge