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James (signal20) | 41 comments Mod
Never do a “pot boiler.” Let one of your best things go to boil the pot. — O. Henry

Originality does not mean oddity, but freshness. It means vitality, not novelty. — Hapgood

Pluck feathers from the wings of your imagination, and stick them in the tail of your judgment. — Horace Greeley

Quintessence approximates genius. Gather much thought into few words. — Schopenhauer

Revise. Revise. Revise. — E. E. Hale

Simplicity has been held a mark of truth: It is also a mark of genius. — Carlyle

The first principle of composition of whatever sort is that it should be natural and appear to have happened so. — Frederick Macmonnies
Utilize your enthusiasms. Get the habit of happiness in work. — Beveridge

Very few voices but sound repellent under violent exertion. — G. E. Lessing

Whatever in this world one has to say, there is a word, and just one word,
to express it. Seek that out and use it. — de Maupassant

Oh, yes! believe me, you must draw your pen
Not once, nor twice but o’er and o’er again
Through what you’ve written, if you would entice
The man that reads you once to read you twice. — Horace

Zeal with scanty capacity often accomplishes more than capacity with no zeal at all. — George Eliot
A word out of place spoils the most beautiful thought. — Voltaire

Begin humbly. Labor faithfully. Be patient. — Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

Cultivate accuracy in words and things; amass sound knowledge; avoid affectation; write all topics which interest you. — F. W. Newman

Don’t be afraid. Fight right along. Hope right along. — S. L. Clemens

Every good writer has much idiom; it is the life and spirit of Language. — W. S. Landor

Follow this: If you write from the heart, you will write to the heart. — Beaconsfield

Genius may begin great works, but only continued labor completes them. — Joubert
Half the writer’s art consists in learning what to leave in the ink pot. — Stevenson

It is by suggestion, not cumulation, that profound impressions form on the imagination. — Lowell

Joy in one’s work is an asset beyond the valuing in mere dollars. — C. D. Warner

Keep writing, and profit by criticism. Use for a motto Michelangelo’s wise words: “Genius is infinite patience.” — L. M. Alcott

Lord, let me never tag a moral to a story, nor tell a story without a meaning. — Van Dyke

More failures come from vanity than carelessness. — Joseph Jefferson



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