“Life is an essay you yourself have to write, start to finish.”

“Oh! write, write. Finish it at once. Let there be an end of this suspense. Fix, commit, condemn yourself.”

“There is a fool you feel when somebody is saying they are sorry for doing something to you. It is worse than if you had done something yourself. So you are having the worst of it twice, start and finish.”

“The next best thing after finishing writing a chapter is starting a new one.”

“Scott took LITERATURE so solemnly. He never understood that it was just writing as well as you can and finishing what you start.”

“When you start writing, you may think you will use the book to guide readers down certain paths and through certain themes. But, the characters will take on a life of their own and steer you down unforeseen paths where you will have a startling encounter with yourself.”