"I still do not know what impels anyone sound of mind to leave dry land and spend a lifetime describing people who do not exist. If it is child's play, an extension of make believe - something one is frequently assured by people who write about writing - how to account for the overriding wish to do that, just that, only that, and consider it as rational an occupation as riding a bicycle over the Alps?"

--

Source : Mavis Gallant (2011). “Paris Stories”, p.366, New York Review of Books

Mavis Gallant

#Children Quotes #Believe Quotes #Writing Quotes

“I love the short story for being round, suggestive, insinuating, microcosmic. The story has both the inconvenience and the fascination of new beginnings.”
“I am athirst for God, the living God.”

Source : Jean Ingelow (1885). “Poems”
“Theres a thousand other things I would rather spend money on than a car.”
“Every human being should keep alive within them the sacred flame of madness, but should behave as a normal person.”
“The things that matter the most in this world, they can never be held in our hand.”
“In an effort to civilize combat sports, authorities mandated padded gloves and instantly made the sports far more savage. Granted, putting gloves on the hands seems like a nice thing to do. If you were being punched in the brain by a powerful man, wouldn't you rather he strap a pillow around his fist? But the glove doesn't do anything to diminish your brain damage.”

Source : "A Talk With The Savage English Professor". Interview with Sam Harris, www.thedailybeast.com. March 5, 2015.
“A lot of people out there pay good lip service to the idea of personal freedom... right up to the point that someone tries to do something that they don't personally approve of.”
“I began to pay attention to Scripture and meet people who walked the walk, and little by little, I guess you could call me a born again Christian. 1978 is when I found my walk with the Lord.”

Source : "Tony Orlando's Brush With Death". Interview with Scott Ross, www1.cbn.com. October 16, 2013.

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