Writing Gooder

Postman Reading Mail by Norman Rockwell (1922)

“What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can’t reread a phone call.”

- Liz Carpenter
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Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.

- Henry Ford

“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.”

- John Jakes

“Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say ‘infinitely’ when you mean ‘very’; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.”

- C.S. Lewis

Everywhere I go I’m asked if I think the university stifles writers.  My opinion is that they don’t stifle enough of them.  There’s many a bestseller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.

- Flannery O’Connor

 ”Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” – Mark Twain

Although Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are two of my favorite books, Mark Twain isn’t one of my favorite authors.  Don’t get me wrong; he is by far one of the greatest American novelists.  However, his work is mostly hit or miss for me.  Tom Sawyer?  Awesome bo-possum.  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court?  No comment.

However, Mark Twain is by far my favorite source of quotes.  In the lexicon of today, he is the 19th century version of John Stewart; a satirical humorist who won’t hesitate to skewer anyone who deserves it.  So hit the jump for Twainisms to lighten up your day:

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