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Richard Russo Quotes

Structure is one of the things that I always hope will reveal itself to me Picture Quote #1

I can be glib and truthful all at once Picture Quote #1

Even at its most perceptive, sociology deals in abstractions Picture Quote #1

... aware, as always, that the truth isn’t much of substitute for a good answer Picture Quote #1

I want that which is hilarious and that which is heartbreaking to occupy the same territory in the book because I think they very often occupy the same territory in life, much as we try to separate them Picture Quote #1

Stories worked much the same way... A false note at the beginning was much more costly than one nearer the end because early errors were part of the foundation Picture Quote #1

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I’m not an easy man. I can be an entertaining one, though it’s been my experience that most people don’t want to be entertained. They want to be comforted Picture Quote #1

People who imagine themselves to be self-made seldom enjoy examining the process of manufacture in detail Picture Quote #1

I just have this feeling that if it weren’t for the Gloversville Free Library that I probably would not be a writer Picture Quote #1

I think that if people are instructed about anything, it should be about the nature of cruelty. And about why people behave so cruelly to each other. And what kind of satisfactions they derive from it. And why there is always a cost, and a price to be paid Picture Quote #1

If my career continues along its current arc, people will probably look at me and see a writer who is obsessed with the relationship between rich and poor and with how the rich somehow or other always manage to betray the poor, even when they don’t mean to Picture Quote #1

Some authors have a very hard time understanding that in order to be faithful to the spirit of the book, it’s almost always impossible to remain faithful to the text. You have to make changes Picture Quote #1

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When I start getting close to the end of a novel, something registers in the back of my mind for the next novel, so that I usually don’t write, or take notes. And I certainly don’t begin. I just allow things to percolate for a while Picture Quote #1

That afternoon I came to understand that one of the deepest purposes of intellectual sophistication is to provide distance between us and our most disturbing personal truths and gnawing fears Picture Quote #1

After all, what was the whole wide world but a place for people to yearn for their heart’s impossible desires, for those desires to become entrenched in defiance of logic, plausibility, and even the passage of time, as eternal as polished marble Picture Quote #1

To his surprise he also discovered that it was possible to be good at what you had little interest in, just as it had been possible to be bad at something, whether painting or poetry, that you cared about a great deal Picture Quote #1

Don’t even the best and most fortunate of lives hint at other possibilities, at a different kind of sweetness and, yes, bitterness too? Isn’t this why we can’t help feeling cheated, even when we know we haven’t been? Picture Quote #1

The line of gray along the horizon is brighter now, and with the coming light I feel a certainty: that there is, despite our wild imaginings, only one life. The ghostly others, no matter how real they seem, no matter how badly we need them, are phantoms. The one life we’re left with is sufficient to fill and refill our imperfect hearts with joy, and then to shatter them. And it never, ever lets up Picture Quote #1

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One of the odd things about middle age, he concluded, was the strange decisions a man discovers he’s made by not really making them, like allowing friends to drift away through simple neglect Picture Quote #1

To weigh and evaluate a vast grid of information, much of it meaningless, and to arrive at sensible, if erroneous, conclusions, is a skill not to be sneezed at Picture Quote #1

When I look back over my novels what I find is that when I think I’m finished with a theme, I’m generally not. and usually themes will recur from novel to novel in odd, new guises Picture Quote #1

What comes easiest for me is dialogue. Sometimes when my characters are speaking to me, I have to slow them down so that I’m not simply taking dictation Picture Quote #1

Odd that the future should be so difficult to bring into focus when the past, uninvited, offered itself up so easily for inspection Picture Quote #1

Usually by the time I finish a book tour I’ve just about had it with the book Picture Quote #1

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At the risk of appearing disingenuous, I don’t really think of myself as ‘writing humor.’ I’m simply reporting on the world I observe, which is frequently hilarious Picture Quote #1

A lot of my characters in all of my books have a self-destructive urge. They’ll do precisely the thing that they know is wrong, take a perverse delight in doing the wrong thing Picture Quote #1

Cary Grant never won an Oscar, primarily, I suspect, because he made everything look so effortless. Why reward someone for having fun, for being charming? Picture Quote #1

You use simple brushstrokes in a screenplay for things over which you would take much greater pains in a novel Picture Quote #1

You can be interested in a Jane Smiley novel whether or not anyone says a word. She enters into her characters thoughts with great understanding and depth Picture Quote #1

When authors who write literary fiction begin to write screenplays, everybody assumes that’s the end. Here’s another who’s never going to write well again Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

Structure is one of the things that I always hope will reveal itself to me (Richard Russo Quotes) I can be glib and truthful all at once (Richard Russo Quotes) Even at its most perceptive, sociology deals in abstractions (Richard Russo Quotes) ... aware, as always, that the truth isn’t much of substitute for a good answer (Richard Russo Quotes) I want that which is hilarious and that which is heartbreaking to occupy the same territory in the book because I think they very often occupy the same territory in life, much as we try to separate them (Richard Russo Quotes) Stories worked much the same way... A false note at the beginning was much more costly than one nearer the end because early errors were part of the foundation (Richard Russo Quotes) I’m not an easy man. I can be an entertaining one, though it’s been my experience that most people don’t want to be entertained. They want to be comforted (Richard Russo Quotes) People who imagine themselves to be self-made seldom enjoy examining the process of manufacture in detail (Richard Russo Quotes) I just have this feeling that if it weren’t for the Gloversville Free Library that I probably would not be a writer (Richard Russo Quotes) I think that if people are instructed about anything, it should be about the nature of cruelty. And about why people behave so cruelly to each other. And what kind of satisfactions they derive from it. And why there is always a cost, and a price to be paid (Richard Russo Quotes) If my career continues along its current arc, people will probably look at me and see a writer who is obsessed with the relationship between rich and poor and with how the rich somehow or other always manage to betray the poor, even when they don’t mean to (Richard Russo Quotes) Some authors have a very hard time understanding that in order to be faithful to the spirit of the book, it’s almost always impossible to remain faithful to the text. You have to make changes (Richard Russo Quotes) When I start getting close to the end of a novel, something registers in the back of my mind for the next novel, so that I usually don’t write, or take notes. And I certainly don’t begin. I just allow things to percolate for a while (Richard Russo Quotes) That afternoon I came to understand that one of the deepest purposes of intellectual sophistication is to provide distance between us and our most disturbing personal truths and gnawing fears (Richard Russo Quotes) After all, what was the whole wide world but a place for people to yearn for their heart’s impossible desires, for those desires to become entrenched in defiance of logic, plausibility, and even the passage of time, as eternal as polished marble (Richard Russo Quotes) To his surprise he also discovered that it was possible to be good at what you had little interest in, just as it had been possible to be bad at something, whether painting or poetry, that you cared about a great deal (Richard Russo Quotes) Don’t even the best and most fortunate of lives hint at other possibilities, at a different kind of sweetness and, yes, bitterness too? Isn’t this why we can’t help feeling cheated, even when we know we haven’t been? (Richard Russo Quotes) The line of gray along the horizon is brighter now, and with the coming light I feel a certainty: that there is, despite our wild imaginings, only one life. The ghostly others, no matter how real they seem, no matter how badly we need them, are phantoms. The one life we’re left with is sufficient to fill and refill our imperfect hearts with joy, and then to shatter them. And it never, ever lets up (Richard Russo Quotes) One of the odd things about middle age, he concluded, was the strange decisions a man discovers he’s made by not really making them, like allowing friends to drift away through simple neglect (Richard Russo Quotes) To weigh and evaluate a vast grid of information, much of it meaningless, and to arrive at sensible, if erroneous, conclusions, is a skill not to be sneezed at (Richard Russo Quotes) When I look back over my novels what I find is that when I think I’m finished with a theme, I’m generally not. and usually themes will recur from novel to novel in odd, new guises (Richard Russo Quotes) What comes easiest for me is dialogue. Sometimes when my characters are speaking to me, I have to slow them down so that I’m not simply taking dictation (Richard Russo Quotes) Odd that the future should be so difficult to bring into focus when the past, uninvited, offered itself up so easily for inspection (Richard Russo Quotes) Usually by the time I finish a book tour I’ve just about had it with the book (Richard Russo Quotes) At the risk of appearing disingenuous, I don’t really think of myself as ‘writing humor.’ I’m simply reporting on the world I observe, which is frequently hilarious (Richard Russo Quotes) A lot of my characters in all of my books have a self-destructive urge. They’ll do precisely the thing that they know is wrong, take a perverse delight in doing the wrong thing (Richard Russo Quotes) Cary Grant never won an Oscar, primarily, I suspect, because he made everything look so effortless. Why reward someone for having fun, for being charming? (Richard Russo Quotes) You use simple brushstrokes in a screenplay for things over which you would take much greater pains in a novel (Richard Russo Quotes) You can be interested in a Jane Smiley novel whether or not anyone says a word. She enters into her characters thoughts with great understanding and depth (Richard Russo Quotes) When authors who write literary fiction begin to write screenplays, everybody assumes that’s the end. Here’s another who’s never going to write well again (Richard Russo Quotes)

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