All art is propaganda; on the other hand, not all propaganda is art.
I don't think you can do anything for anyone without giving up something of your own.
Writers who can't invent stories often substitute style for narrative. They remind me of the painter who couldn't paint people, so he painted chairs.
First drafts are for learning what your novel or story is about. Revision is working with that knowledge to enlarge and enhance an idea, to re-form it. . . . The first draft of a book is the most uncertain-where you need guts, the ability to accept the imperfect until it is better.
We're persecuted in the most civilized languages.
A writer is a spectator, looking at everything with a highly critical eye.
When I don't feel hurt, I hope they bury me.
Guys don't understand great art. They don't care that sometimes the camera has power beyond the photographer to record emotion that only the heart can see. They're threatened when the camera jumps ahead of me. Todd Kovich was pissed when I brought my Nikon to the prom, but I'd missed too many transcendent shots over the years to ever take a chance of missing one again. A prom, I told him, had a boundless supply of photogenic bozos who could be counted on to do something base.
Do not fancy, as too many do, that thou canst praise God by singing hymns to Him in church once a week, and disobeying Him all the week long. He asks of thee works as well as words; and more, he asks of thee works first and words after.
What do I care if you are good? Be beautiful! and be sad!
History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.