Engagements - they are like a prayer before eating, best quick. Elizabeth McCracken More Quotes by Elizabeth McCracken More Quotes From Elizabeth McCracken Books remember all the things you cannot contain. Elizabeth McCracken remember book Fire is a speed reader, which is why the ignorant burn books: fire races through pages, takes care of all the knowledge, and never bores you with a summary. Elizabeth McCracken race fire book Enough fine weather and money and a few memorable meals make any place desirable. Elizabeth McCracken meals memorable weather In reference works, as in sin, omission is as bad as willful misbehavior. Elizabeth McCracken nonfiction omission sin As for me, I believe that if there's a God - and I am as neutral on the subject as is possible - then the most basic proof of His existence is black humor. What else explains it, that odd, reliable comfort that billows up at the worst moments, like a beautiful sunset woven out of the smoke over a bombed city. Elizabeth McCracken sunset beautiful believe People think librarians are unromantic, unimaginative. This is not true. We are people whose dreams run in particular ways. Ask a mountain climber what he feels when he sees a mountain; a lion tamer what goes through his mind when he meets a new lion; a doctor confronted with a beautiful malfunctioning body. The idea of a library full of books, the books full of knowledge, fills me with fear and love and courage and endless wonder. Elizabeth McCracken dream running beautiful And while I was not an admirer of people in the specific, I liked them in the abstract. It is only the execution of the idea that disappoints. Elizabeth McCracken execution people ideas My father was right: you could make anybody amazing just by insisting they were. Elizabeth McCracken insisting father It's an amazing thing to watch a lizard fold a moth into its mouth, like a sword swallower who specialises in umbrellas. Elizabeth McCracken sword mouth amazing like I wanted to acknowledge that life goes on but that death goes on, too. A person who is dead is a long, long story. Elizabeth McCracken dead life long death You write the way you think about the world. My motto in times of trouble - and I'm speaking of life, not writing - is 'no humor too black.' Elizabeth McCracken you black humor life I'm astounded by people who can listen to music when they write. I can only assume that they have multi-track brains, while mine is decidedly single. Elizabeth McCracken single music i-can people There's a good chance that in 40 years, after the floods, people zipping by on scavenged jetpacks with their scavenged baseball caps on backwards, I will be in my rocking chair saying bitterly, 'I remember when 'all right' was two words.' Elizabeth McCracken words good remember people I own an e-reader, but I use it almost exclusively to read things that aren't books - student theses, unbound galleys. Elizabeth McCracken books student own things At my first library job, I worked with a woman named Sheila Brownstein, who was The Reader's Advisor. She was a short, bosomy Englishwoman who accosted people at the shelves and asked if they wanted advice on what to read, and if the answer was yes, she asked what writers they already loved and then suggested somebody new. Elizabeth McCracken woman job library people I like seeing my physical progress through a volume, particularly if it's a big book. Elizabeth McCracken big like progress book I used to be a writer with superstitions worthy of a professional baseball player: I needed a certain desk chair and a certain armchair and a certain desk arrangement, and I could only get really useful work done between 8 P.M. and 3 A.M. Then I started to move, and I couldn't bring my chairs with me. Elizabeth McCracken chair professional me work Revising stuff lately, I was shocked to see how often my characters scratched their ankles, felt their feet, and touched their own ears. Elizabeth McCracken own how see feet When it comes to other people's writing, my older influences are more powerful than more recent ones, partially because I'm now more worried that I'll suddenly accidentally steal something from another writer. Elizabeth McCracken something powerful writing people Life likes jokes; life is constantly making jokes, even at the most inopportune moments. Elizabeth McCracken jokes likes moments life
