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Quotes from Journal of a Novel — John Steinbeck

1902–1968 United States

← All quotes by John Steinbeck

7 quotes

In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable.

Journal of a Novel (1969)

A good writer always works at the impossible.

Journal of a Novel (1969)

It is the duty of the writer to lift up, to extend, to encourage.

Journal of a Novel (1969)

I believe that the great ones, Plato, Lao Tze, Buddha, Christ, Paul and the great Hebrew prophets are not remembered for negation or denial.

Journal of a Novel (1969)

... the writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.

Journal of a Novel (1969)

A book is like a man — clever and dull, brave and cowardly, beautiful and ugly. For every flowering thought there will be a page like a wet and mangy mongrel, and for every looping flight a tap on the wing and a reminder that wax cannot hold the feathers firm too near the sun.

Journal of a Novel (1969)

I like a chapter to have design of tone, as well as of form. A chapter should be a perfect cell in the whole book and should be almost able to stand alone. If this is done then the breaks we call chapters are not arbitrary but rather articulations which allow the free movement of the story.

Journal of a Novel (1969)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: John Steinbeck (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.