“A book comes and says, 'Write me.”

— Madeleine L'Engle

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "A book comes and says, 'Write me." by Madeleine L'Engle?

Madeleine L'Engle photo

Madeleine L'Engle223

American writer 1918–2007

Related quotes

“Make no mistake, those who write long books have nothing to say.
Of course those who write short books have even less to say.”

Mark Z. Danielewski book House of Leaves

Source: House of Leaves

“Writing books is the closest men ever come to childbearing.”

Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, film maker, actor and political candidate

"Mr. Mailer Interviews Himself" in The New York Times Book Review (17 September 1965)

“I don't write a book so that it will be the final word; I write a book so that other books are possible, not necessarily written by me.”

Michel Foucault (1926–1984) French philosopher

“Read a lot, listen well and deeply, and write a lot. […] If you read good books, when you write, good books will come out of you.”

Natalie Goldberg book Writing Down the Bones

Essay, "Listening". p.59
Writing Down the Bones (1986)

“Hands down, the biggest thrill is to get a letter from a kid saying, I loved your book. Will you write me another one?”

Kate DiCamillo book Because of Winn-Dixie

Source: Because of Winn-Dixie

“The men that write books, Carlyle says, are now the world's priests, the spiritual directors of mankind.”

James Anthony Froude book The Nemesis of Faith

Letter VI
The Nemesis of Faith (1849)

“It's like you're a character in this book that everyone around you is writing, and suddenly you have to say, 'I'm sorry, but this role isn't right for me'. And you have to start writing your own life and doing your own thing.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: How They Met, and Other Stories

“A bad book is as much of a labor to write as a good one; it comes as sincerely from the author's soul.”

Aldous Huxley book Point Counter Point

Variant: A bad book is as much of a labour to write as a good one; it comes as sincerely from the author's soul.
Source: Point Counter Point

“I cannot write long books; I leave that for those who have nothing to say.”

Celia Green (1935) British philosopher

The Decline and Fall of Science (1976)

“Years ago I read a man named Machado de Assis who wrote a book called Dom Casmurro. Machado de Assis is a South American writer — black father, Portuguese mother — writing in 1865, say. I thought the book was very nice. Then I went back and read the book and said, Hmm. I didn’t realize all that was in that book. Then I read it again, and again, and I came to the conclusion that what Machado de Assis had done for me was almost a trick: he had beckoned me onto the beach to watch a sunset. And I had watched the sunset with pleasure. When I turned around to come back in I found that the tide had come in over my head. That’s when I decided to write.”

Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet

Paris Review Interview (1990)

Related topics