105 Inspiring Quotes From Authors

Quotes have the power to inspire, provoke thought, and offer fresh perspectives. Whether you're seeking motivation, comfort, or simply a moment of reflection, the words of renowned authors can provide a much-needed spark. In the realm of literature, authors craft language with an artistry that goes beyond mere storytelling; they delve into the core of human experience, capturing emotions and insights with precision and elegance. This collection of 105 inspiring quotes from some of the most gifted writers invites you to explore the wisdom and beauty encapsulated in their words. Whether these quotes urge you to dream bigger, reflect deeper, or simply appreciate the small moments in life, they celebrate the timeless influence of literature and the unique ability of words to transform our outlook on the world.

1. “The good, the admirable reader identifies himself not with the boy or the girl in the book, but with the mind that conceived and composed that book.” - Vladimir Nabokov

2. “Determine the result you desire..law of averages does not know the objective untill the decision is made. Once a decision is made, the law of averages goes into operation.” - Earl Prevette

3. “I felt after I finished Slaughterhouse-Five that I didn’t have to write at all anymore if I didn’t want to. It was the end of some sort of career. I don’t know why, exactly. I suppose that flowers, when they’re through blooming, have some sort of awareness of some purpose having been served. Flowers didn’t ask to be flowers and I didn’t ask to be me. At the end of Slaughterhouse-Five…I had a shutting-off feeling…that I had done what I was supposed to do and everything was OK .” - Kurt Vonnegut

4. “What an author doesn't know could fill a book.” - Holly Black

5. “There is something fascinatingly awkward about an author photo. I'm drawn to those glossy shots in the back of books, mostly because the subjects never look happy to be there.” - Pamela Ribon

6. “I used to always read with a pen in my hand, as if the author and I were in a conversation. ” - Tara Bray Smith

7. “It is no worse, because I write of it. It would be no better, if I stopped my most unwilling hand. Nothing can undo it; nothing can make it otherwise than as it was. ” - Charles Dickens

8. “When male authors write love stories, the heroine tends to end up dead.” - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

9. “We have all been empowered by the web: everyone with a keyboard can now effectively broadcast to a national audience. In a sense, it puts each of us on the same footing as the major media conglomerates, except for AOL, who now apparently own all our thoughts and teeth.” - John Hodgman

10. “Every well-written book is a light for me. When you write, you use other writers and their books as guides in the wilderness. ” - kate dicamillo

11. “Pregressive art can assist people to learn not only about the objective forces at work in the society in which they live, but also about the intensity social character of their interior lives. Ultimately, it can propel people toward social emancipation” - Angela Davis

12. “Christ asks for a home in your soul, where he can be at rest with you, where he can talk easily to you, where you and he, alone together, can laugh and be silent and be delighted with one another.” - Caryll Houselander

13. “To be a writer is to embrace rejection as a way of life.” - Dana Stabenow

14. “You've got to be smart enough to write and stupid enough not to think about all the things that might go wrong.” - Sarah Gilbert

15. “Do not put statements in the negative form.And don't start sentences with a conjunction.If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that agreat deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.De-accession euphemisms.If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.” - William Safire

16. “AuthorZoom- You do the writing, let us do the rest.” - Christopher Seufert

17. “Where Norman Rockwell is the Artist for the man on the street, O'Henry is his author.” - Sonia Rumzi

18. “The only happy author in this world is he who is below the care of reputation.” - Washington Irving

19. “Most people keep their dreams to themselves, afraid to follow their hearts. Writers make their dreams a reality with each word, each line that flows from their pen.” - CK Webb

20. “The difference is slight, to the influence of an author, whether he is read by five hundred readers, or by five hundred thousand; if he can select the five hundred, he reaches the five hundred thousand.” - Henry Adams

21. “Yeah, I write Urban Fantasy, but its more like Die Hard or Indiana Jones with Fairies, Mummies and a Vampire who uses guns more than his teeth.” - Kevin James Breaux

22. “He has tongue of a writer.” - Toba Beta

23. “When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in bad condition in the particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is "So it goes.” - Kurt Vonnegut

24. “The brightest light casts the darkest shadow.” - Jess C. Scott

25. “It would be better not to know so many things than to know so many things that are not so.” - Felix Okoye

26. “Betsy was so full of joy that she had to be alone. She went upstairs to her bedroom and sat down on Uncle Keith's trunk. Behind Tacy's house the sun had set. A wind had sprung up and the trees, their color dimmed, moved under a brooding sky. All the stories she had told Tacy and Tib seemed to be dancing in those trees, along with all the stories she planned to write some day and all the stories she would read at the library. Good stories. Great stories. The classics. Not Rena's novels.” - Maud Hart Lovelace

27. “Warfare is a series of tragedies enjoined by logistics.” - Kevin Carson

28. “An inspirational writer's life is an open book that never shuts. Choose your words carefully.” - Shannon Alder

29. “What's cheaper than a gallon of gas? An ebook. Save a dollar, stay home and read!” - Shandy L. Kurth

30. “I believe that a writer is a person who writes. An author is a person who has written.” - Dean Wesley Smith

31. “I don't believe it pays to be a great author.” - Jean Webster

32. “I pity the people who don't like to read, because then they spend their whole lives stuck in this one world and dont get to discover any others.” - Richard Denney

33. “...Love can give you the most exhilarating wonderful highs at times... ...Then there will be dives that will take all you have just to hold on... Quote on the Title Page of "Love TORN Asunder” - Elizabeth Funderbirk

34. “Though this child came in with nothing but excess baby fat, chemical brain waves, and mother and son bodily toxins on his legs, he had a fate fit for a modern day demigod.” - David Scheier

35. “Miss, I'd gladly pay you to remove your clothes.” - David Scheier

36. “It was unhealthy to get too attached. Such things were best reserved for people who had a life expectancy” - Matthew S. Williams

37. “If you hear voices, you’re a lunatic. If you write down what they say, you’re an author.” - Dani Harper

38. “This is for everyone who has ever looked at the stars, or gazed from atop a hill, or across the sea and wondered...” - Tim Perkins

39. “I have been an author for 20 years and an ass for 55.” - Mark Twain

40. “A critic is a legless man who teaches other people to run” - Channing Pollock

41. “For so long considered a second-rate category to other writing genres, Science Fiction should be allotted its true place in literature. The reason Science Fiction is so important is because SF authors create the future. They bring through ideas, technology, and new thought, put it all down in written and spoken word, and then send it out into mass consciousness. When enough people (a critical mass) think about and truly consider the plausibility of a concept, it becomes reality. Think William Gibson, who in 1982's "Burning Chrome" coined "cyberspace". Few grasped the concept at the time, but as the internet took hold in the 1990's, we not only had a word to describe our experience, we had a definition and an understanding, as well. Coincidence?” - Joseph Duda

42. “In the shower today I tried to think about the best advice I'd ever been given by another writer. There was something that someone said at my first Milford, about using style as a covering, but sooner or later you would have to walk naked down the street, that was useful...And then I remembered. It was Harlan Ellison about a decade ago.He said, "Hey. Gaiman. What's with the stubble? Every time I see you, you're stubbly. What is it? Some kind of English fashion statement?""Not really.""Well? Don't they have razors in England for Chrissakes?""If you must know, I don't like shaving because I have a really tough beard and sensitive skin. So by the time I've finished shaving I've usually scraped my face a bit. So I do it as little as possible.""Oh." He paused. "I've got that too. What you do is, you rub your stubble with hair conditioner. Leave it a couple of minutes, then wash it off. Then shave normally. Makes it really easy to shave. No scraping."I tried it. It works like a charm. Best advice from a writer I've ever received.” - Neil Gaiman

43. “To be a highflier and a name to conjure with, you must decide your dimension, plan your path, master the moment, focus on the future, determine your degree, push your persistence and leadyour life.” - Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

44. “...ending a book with a sequel in such a way that the reader still has faith in the characters and in the writer. That's finesse.” - Shandy L. Kurth

45. “The first thing I ever learned in roller derby is to fall, and in the author world I believe that same rule applies.” - Elizabeth J. Kolodziej

46. “I'm pretty much looking for beauty all the time. It just seems like some days the light is better to see it.” - Melodie Ramone

47. “Bring on the controversy. I write real life. It's harsh and sometimes gritty, but it's real. Why should we tip toe around that?” - Shandy L. Kurth

48. “...I happen to be the kind of author who in starting to work on a book has no purpose than to get rid of that book....” - Vladimir Nabokov

49. “Although human beings are incapable of talking about themselves with total honesty, it is much harder to avoid the truth while pretending to be other people. They often reveal much about themselves in a very straightforward way. I am certain that I did. There is nothing that says more about its creator than the work itself.” - Akira Kurosawa

50. “I have had my say, as he wished. Now the book belongs, as he points out, to the world he claims to speak for.” - Julian Darius

51. “A book series is never truly over. The story lives on, even when the final page has been turned.” - Richard Denney

52. “I never talk back. I listen and always remember your every word, so come pen or mouse, never forget that I will treasure your thoughts forever. Yours truly, Paper.” - L.M. Fields

53. “There is no good or bad author; there is only one kind of an author, that who connects with the readers.” - Saru Singhal

54. “You know you're a writer when the words don't stop!” - Joyce Middleton

55. “The gold of life is for those bold and brave in life.” - Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

56. “Ending a series is a difficult one .......where should a story that you have followed for so long end? When do you step away from the characters and let the readers decide their fate from there? When they can stand on their own is my only answer for that.” - Shandy L. Kurth

57. “The best part about being a writer is getting the last word.” - Shannon L. Alder

58. “I look forward to seeing more of this author's writings. Linda Strong” - Vicki M. Taylor

59. “In the Presence of Love...there are Miracles...Live Love, Give Love and Miracle will follow Miracle and wonders will never cease.” - Deborah Brooks

60. “Art is a captured emotion. When I say this I mean all artists, whether you are a photographer, a writer, or sculptor, you are trying to capture the way someone or something made you feel. As a story teller I am trying to captivate the audience and allow them to feel just a small portion of the emotion I am desperately trying to preserve.” - Tommy Tran

61. “My main task as an artist is to show you either what you have never seen before -- or to show you what you have seen countless times, in a way you've never seen it.” - Mike Duron

62. “When I finally find that one willing agent, I'll have found my prize in the Cracker Jack box.” - Richelle E. Goodrich

63. “I love when I finish reading a chapter that I wrote and my cheeks hurt from smiling and all I can utter is, 'Wow.'” - Richelle E. Goodrich

64. “Psalm 37:44 Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” - LaNina King

65. “An author is like an incompetent bricklayer - doesn't use mortar and keeps rearranging the bricks until someone tells him to stop.” - Chris Everheart

66. “The heart is a place with worm holes made by feelings you aren't supposed to have but do.” - Elizabeth Scott

67. “I would make a HORRIBLE outlaw. I can plan the crime perfectly, but I'd also need to plan the outcomes to make it work.” - Michelle M. Pillow

68. “I wish life were a fiction novel. Then everyone would have to do what I say.” - Michelle M. Pillow

69. “I think people need hope when times are tough. I think they also need escape and adventure and fantasy. Books are like cheap mini vacations.” - Michelle M. Pillow

70. “Confession: I don't want to be one of my characters. I'm mean to them sometimes. Really mean.” - Michelle M. Pillow

71. “My cat mocks me frequently. It's the universe's way of keeping me from getting too big of an ego.” - Michelle M. Pillow

72. “The web is a dangerous place for a mind begging to slack off and be distracted by nonsense.” - Michelle M. Pillow

73. “People should know better than to be an ass in front of writers. We immortalize things. Lots of things. And we take liberties with character descriptions.” - Michelle M. Pillow

74. “Advice from a Romance Writer: Guys, make your woman feel pretty even on an 'off' day. Trust me, good things will come of it.” - Michelle M. Pillow

75. “It’s despicable of an author to kill his main personage solely for stirring imagination of indifferent or mean minds.” - Lara Biyuts

76. “Sometimes just looking into a person's eyes can tell a graphic story and a brilliant novel if you have the ability to turn it into words.” - L L Caulton

77. “If you cannot judge a book by its cover, surely we should not judge an author by one book alone?” - E.A. Bucchianeri

78. “Fairy tales are make believe and reality sucks, but I happen to live in both worlds.” - Emily Hodson

79. “Out of the millions who write, only very few manage to create an impact.” - Saru Singhal

80. “Two questions form the foundation of all novels: "What if?" and "What next?" (A third question, "What now?", is one the author asks himself every 10 minutes or so; but it's more a cry than a question.) Every novel begins with the speculative question, What if "X" happened? That's how you start.” - Tom Clancy

81. “Preserve your own mystery. We live in an age of social media and what seems like extreme sharing of personal details. I would beg to differ that these revelations are not honest truths but more self-branding. Whatever the case, save a little bit, or a lot, for yourself. If you run around naked all the time, when the storm hits, you’ll have no raincoat.” - Susan Kirschbaum

82. “Life's too short, drive it like ya stole it!” - Debra L. Hartmann

83. “inspiration is not a thing, its every thing, open your eyes and inspiration is everywhere.” - L.L. Caulton

84. “Without a mission and a sense of whom you write for, you aren't worth reading.” - Steve Lopez

85. “The crazy thing about poetry is how its simplicity makes it complicated.” - Richelle E. Goodrich

86. “She had words in her heart which she released thru her fingertips.” - Eveli Acosta

87. “If you're not writing, you're wronging.” - Kevin James Breaux

88. “I know who the real hero is, and it isn't me or brave Lanaya. It's an old man with a white beard and a walking stick and a heart so big it won't let him stop thinking he can change the world by writing down things in a book no one will ever read.” - Rodman Philbrick

89. “Do not compare yourself with anybody. Compare yourself with yourself, for yourself and by yourself. We are all uniquely pottered and purposed by our creator!” - Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

90. “Like a father with his daughter, the writist plays peek-a-boo with the world. His aim is to evoke that sweet smile, the one that says "i remember you. I am glad you are here again".” - D.A. Botta

91. “I have yet to find that one perfect phrase that epitomizes all the mysteries of the universe. Luckily, I doubt to ever pen it in this lifetime, for then the seeking ends; miserable is the day the adventure ends.” - D.A. Botta

92. “Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give more attention and consider the fruit of their labour more valuable” - Friedrich Nietzsche

93. “We live in the information age and the sheer volume of it being available everywhere, creates a need for information that has value. Yes, we can look anything up on Google but who has the time? Can we trust that the information comes from a trustworthy source? Your experience has given you a deep knowing of your subject matter. You have insights and ideas that others may not figure out on their own. You are holding a roadmap that has great value to someone. What has been stopping you from sharing your knowledge? Perhaps you have been afraid to put yourself out there because of a fear of rejection? Let me get straight to the point. Get over it right now! Ponder the following quote for a moment and then move on with the decision to write rather than not to write, because not to write is not “to be”. You deny yourself and your audience. You have had an incredible journey to get to where you are and have amassed experience and knowledge. Now combine that with your unique voice and be heard. You are already an expert. Accept it.” - Kytka Hilmar-Jezek

94. “Write the ending first and then you'll know before the opening sentence that it's going to be a good book.” - Richelle E. Goodrich

95. “Writing Cave means it's Coffee O'Clock...Who am I kidding? It's always Coffee O'Clock!” - Tammy-Louise Wilkins

96. “People who make snide comments to authors like "anyone can write a book" or "well, you did it, so obviously I can/it can't be that hard" or poke at a book because it's "romance" or "genre fiction" and act like that somehow makes it substandard because they don't read it... well, ok, go ahead. Write a bestseller. Don't forget to go through the correct edit process. We'll wait.” - Michelle M. Pillow

97. “I love my career. It is a career. A difficult one that takes many hours and total dedication to my craft. It is also what I was born to do--tell stories and entertain.” - Michelle M. Pillow

98. “The obsession with correct political belief and expression in art is stultifying the genre as it is necessarily exclusive. We are losing our voice in artificial, forced homogeny posing as tolerance. Propaganda-disguised-as-story drives readers away as agenda takes the place of wonder, excitement, character. and conflict.” - Scott M. Roberts

99. “Sometimes I still feel that there are two of me: one clean, flawless picture, the other imperfect and cracked; one boy, one girl; one voice that speaks aloud and one that whispers in my ear; one publicly known to have been troubled but be on the mend, the other who has privately lost something to do with innocence and gained something to do with knowledge and adulthood that can never be undone. I feel sometimes there are things that tear me in two directions, that there are two sets of thoughts that grow side by side. But then I realize that I am whole, whatever that means and does not mean; I am complete without the need for additions or alteration.” - Abigail Tarttelin

100. “Authors were shy, unsociable creatures, atoning for their lack of social aptitude by inventing their own companions and conversations.” - Agatha Christie

101. “There's nothing on Earth like really nailing the last line of a big book. You have 200 pages to tickle their fancy, and seven words to break their heart.” - Alex de Campi

102. “Finally... I'm here...” - K. Hari Kumar

103. “Expression is a function of intention and intention emanates from your thought faculty.” - Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

104. “Do not wait and hope to be discovered...make yourself so you cannot be denied!” - Jamie McCall

105. “You must understand that when you are writing a novel you are not making anything up.” - Thomas Harris