I stood there in the shadowed doorway thinking with my tears. Yes, tears can be thoughts, why not? Louise Erdrich More Quotes by Louise Erdrich More Quotes From Louise Erdrich Nothing I force myself to write about ever turns out well, and so I've learned to wait for the voice, the incident, the image that reverberates. Louise Erdrich waitnothingmyselfvoice My parents' marriage is a gift to everyone around them - 60 years of making their kids laugh. How many parents are actually funny? Louise Erdrich giftparentsmarriagefunny I grew up in North Dakota around Dakota and Ojibwe people, and also small-town people in Wahpeton. Writers make few choices, really, about their material. We have to write about what comes naturally and what interests us - so I do. Louise Erdrich uswritechoicespeople I'd love to meet my ancestors. I'd love to be able to speak to them. Louise Erdrich ancestorsmeetspeaklove Here I am, where I ought to be. A writer must have a place where he or she feels this, a place to love and be irritated with. Louise Erdrich shei-amplacelove My father is my biggest literary influence. Recently, I've been looking through his letters. He was in the National Guard when I was a child, and whenever he left, he would write to me. He wrote letters to me all through college, and we still correspond. His letters, and my mother's, are one of my life's treasures. Louise Erdrich memotherlifefather On any state elections map, the reservations are blue places. Native people are most often progressives, Democrats, and by no means gun-toting vigilantes. Louise Erdrich mapplacesbluepeople Most writers have been influenced by Faulkner. Louise Erdrich faulknerbeenmostinfluenced Talking about how I might write the next book is like talking about whether or not to have sex. Any dithering ruins it. Louise Erdrich liketalkingbooksex There are several kinds of land on reservations. And all of these pieces of land have different entities who are in charge of enforcing laws on this land. Louise Erdrich lawswhodifferentland Revenge is a sorrow for the person who has to take it on. And the person who is rash enough to think it's going to help a situation is always wrong. Louise Erdrich personthinksituationrevenge I grew up in Wahpeton, N.D., and I didn't leave until I was 18, and I've kept going back. Louise Erdrich goingleavebackup What I see in the book is an exquisite form of technology: one that doesn't require a power source and can be passed from hand to hand and lasts a lot longer than an electronic reader. Louise Erdrich seetechnologypowerbook I rarely step on sidewalk cracks. I don't wear a watch. I touch my favorite tree before going on long trips. Louise Erdrich wearsteptreelong I write first drafts by hand. Never do I open an umbrella inside the house. I don't predict wins or losses. I used to stand on a certain piece of rug if my brothers and husband were watching football and their team got in trouble - but now the luck went out of that rug. If a circle is involved, I try to go clockwise. Louise Erdrich teamhusbandluckfootball Nothing I write ever has a moral. If it seems to a reader that there is one, that is unintentional. Louise Erdrich everwritenothingmoral When I moved to Minnesota, I found there was a thriving and determined movement, a grassroots movement, to revitalize the Ojibwe language. And I've never come to be a competent speaker. I have to say that right now. But even learning the amount of Ojibwe that one can at my age is a life-altering experience. Louise Erdrich experiencelearninglanguageage
