I kissed John Updike as he presented me with an award. It wasn't the best kiss as far as kisses go, but I hold the fact that I kissed John Updike, that he kissed me, very close to my heart. Ann Patchett More Quotes by Ann Patchett More Quotes From Ann Patchett Hope is a horrible thing, you know. I don't know who decided to package hope as a virtue because it's not. It's a plague. Hope is like walking around with a fishhook in your mouth and somebody just keeps pulling it and pulling it. Ann Patchett horrible virtue mouths Coming back is the thing that enables you to see how all the dots in your life are connected, how one decision leads you another, how one twist of fate, good or bad, brings you to a door that later takes you to another door, which aided by several detours--long hallways and unforeseen stairwells--eventually puts you in the place you are now. Ann Patchett fate doors long It's easier to love a woman when you can't understand a word she's saying. Ann Patchett easier If a person has never given writing a try, they assume that a brilliant idea is hard to come by. But really, even if it takes some digging, ideas are out there. Just open your eyes and look at the world. Writing the ideas down, it turns out, is the real trick. Ann Patchett eye real writing reading is a private act, private even from the person who wrote the book. Once the novel is out there, the author is beside the point. The reader and the book have their own relationship now, and should be left alone to work things out for themselves. Ann Patchett reading should book Why is it that we understand playing the cello will require work, but we attribute writing to the magic of inspiration? Ann Patchett magic inspiration writing One must not be shy where language is concerned. Ann Patchett concerned shy language In this life we love who we love. There were some stories in which facts were very nearly irrelevant. Ann Patchett this-life stories facts I used to do everything to keep a wall up around myself and keep my life quiet so that I could write. Ann Patchett wall writing quiet Because of her singing they all went away feeling moved, feeling comforted, feeling, perhaps, the slightest tremors of faith. Ann Patchett moved singing feelings When well told, a story captured the subtle movement of change. If a novel was a map of a country, a story was the bright silver pin that marked the crossroads. Ann Patchett movement stories country I will write my way into another life. Ann Patchett another-life writing way I always used to be an inside person, and now I'm an outside person. Ann Patchett used-to-be used persons The quality of gifts depends on the sincerity of the giver. Ann Patchett giver sincerity quality You can't be a good person when you're writing and a bad person to your husband or a bad friend. You can't be a jerk in order to be a good writer. You can't say, "I'm too busy writing to be political." You are one person. You are the same person in every aspect of your life, and you have to be a responsible person in every aspect of your life. Ann Patchett political husband writing I was very influenced by The Magic Mountain. It's a book that had a huge impact on me. I loved that as a shape for a novel: put a bunch of people in a beautiful place, give them all tuberculosis, make them all stay in a fur sleeping bag for several years and see what happens. Ann Patchett sleep beautiful book I really do think that our subconscious gets corrupted with fear, and fear is how news media - all media - makes us [watch] long enough to get to the Tide commercial. That's all it's about. Generating fear so that we can buy the proper laundry detergent. Ann Patchett media long thinking When you get divorced and remarried, nobody gets discarded. Everybody is still there. Even if their storyline is not directly yours. Ann Patchett divorced discarded stills Updike and Bellow and Roth were my three favorite writers when I was young and throughout my life. Ann Patchett three young Write because you love the art and the discipline, not because you're looking to sell something. Ann Patchett discipline writing art
