"My first published novel, American Rust, took three and a half years of full-time work to write. But I wrote two apprentice novels before that."

--

Source : Interview with Jennifer L. Knox, www.newyorker.com. June 14-21, 2010.

Philipp Meyer

#Writing Quotes #Years Quotes #Two Quotes

“They say Australians get that ten-yard stare. It comes from the land and the horizon. You can see all around you for as far as you can see. So you just stare. I do it all the time.”

Source : "Anna Torv Is a Woman We Love" by Cal Fussman, www.esquire.com. February 8, 2010.
“Our attitude towards others determines their attitude towards us.”
“The first epics were intended for recitation; the literary epic is meant to be read.”
“Every spring I hear the thrush singing in the glowing woods he is only passing through. His voice is deep, then he lifts it until it seems to fall from the sky. I am thrilled. I am grateful. Then, by the end of morning, he's gone, nothing but silence out of the tree where he rested for a night. And this I find acceptable. Not enough is a poor life. But too much is, well, too much. Imagine Verdi or Mahler every day, all day. It would exhaust anyone.”
“I think the key to success is vision that adjusts on the way, but doesnâ€™t at all falter. Itâ€™s about not compromising and following your gut to a certain degree, based on knowledge, instinct, etc. And not listening to the naysayers.... You develop strength through adversity. You have to keep moving towards your goal through huge obstacles.”
“I had a lot of hurts and confusions. You know, it's hard when you're a kid to be different. You're all full of things, and you don't know that it's about.”
“The United States has given frequent and enthusiastic support to the overthrow of democracy in favor of "investor friendly" regimes. The World Bank, IMF, and private banks have consistently lavished huge sums on terror regimes, following their displacement of democratic governments, and a number of quantitative studies have shown a systematic positive relationship between U.S. and IMF / World Bank aid to countries and their violations of human rights.”
“All good intellects have repeated, since Bacon's time, that there can be no real knowledge but that which is based on observed facts. This is incontestable, in our present advanced stage; but, if we look back to the primitive stage of human knowledge, we shall see that it must have been otherwise then. If it is true that every theory must be based upon observed facts, it is equally true that facts cannot be observed without the guidance of some theory. Without such guidance, our facts would be desultory and fruitless; we could not retain them: for the most part we could not even perceive them.”

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