A WRITER'S WIT
Avoid theatrical flourishes—the phrases that sound so damned good that they stand up and beg to be recognized as “good writing,” and therefore must be struck from the text.
​Donald Spoto
Author of The Dark Side of Genius
Born June 28, 1941

At the beginning of every semester, I ask my graduate students whether there is something I should read that will help me understand their work.
Alice McDermott
Author of Absolution
Born June 27, 1953

When I'm on the couch, I usually have the TV on and my MacBook Air nearby. And sometimes, when my ADD is really kicking in, I have my iPad too. And my iPhone. And a magazine that I haven't gotten to. And a book under the pillow to my left.
​Aubrey Plaza, Actor and Author of IMDB series Cinema Toast
Born June 26, 1984

It was infuriating. I had been a hundred and fifteen days in the line and had come back to Barcelona ravenous for a bit of rest and comfort; and instead I had to spend my time sitting on a roof opposite Civil Guards as bored as myself, who periodically waved to me and assured me that they were “workers” (meaning that they hoped I would not shoot them), but who would certainly open fire if they got the order to do so. If this was history it did not feel like it.
​[From Homage to Catalonia]
George Orwell
Author of Homage to Catalonia
Born June 25, 1903

A WRITER'S WIT
Writing is a bottom-up process, to borrow a term from the cognitive world.  One thing that’s missing from the discussion of literature in the academy is the pleasure principle.  Not only the pleasure of the reader but also of the writer.  Writing is a self-pleasuring act.
​Ian McEwan
Author of Atonement
​Born June 21, 1948

Since when do you have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?
​Lillian Hellman,  Playwright
Author of The Little Foxes
Born June 20, 1905

Literature is the one place in any society where, within the secrecy of our own heads, we can hear voices talking about everything in every possible way.
​Salman Rushdie
Author of Knife: Meditations
Born June 19, 1947

Language and written language are the only real way we have to see inside another person's thoughts and to know what makes another person human. Without writing, we just wouldn't have that kind of access.
​Carol Windley
Author of Midnight Train to Prague
Born June 18, 1947

A WRITER'S WIT
I can’t write at night. For me, I’m programmed to believe that nighttime is for relaxation.
Diablo Cody,  Screenwriter
Author of Juno
Born June 14, 1978                                                                  

The elderly are all someone's flesh and blood and we cannot just shut them in a cupboard and hand over the responsibility for taking care of them to the state.
Simon Callow,  British Actor
Born June 13, 1949

I like my human experience served up with a little silence and restraint. Silence makes experience go further and, when it does die, gives it that dignity common to a thing one had touched and not ravished.
​Djuna Barnes
Author of The Book of Repulsive Women
Born June 12, 1892

I was always able to lose myself in reading. Books were a necessary escape I always gladly jumped into head first.
​Jennifer Armintrout
Author of Nightmare Born
Born June 11, 1980

A WRITER'S WIT
Mechanical difficulties with language are the outcome of internal difficulties with thought.
​Elizabeth Bowen
Author of Eva Trout
Born June 7, 1899

We never taste a perfect joy; our happiest successes are mixed with sadness.
​Pierre Corneille, Playwright
Author of The Liar
Born June 6, 1606

Family life itself, that safest, most traditional, most approved of female choices, is not a sanctuary: It is, perpetually,  a dangerous place.
Margaret Drabble
Author of The Pure Gold Baby
Born June 5, 1939

Remember, attraction is only one part of a relationship. Loyalty, commitment, responsibility and maturity make up the rest.
Ruth Westheimer
Author of The Art of Arousal
Born June 4, 1928