“Someone once asked Somerset Maughham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. "I write only when inspiration strikes," he replied. "Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o'clock sharp.”

“I write when I'm inspired, and I see to it that I'm inspired at nine o'clock every morning.”

Peter de Vries (1910–1993) American editor and novelist

“One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

“Revolutionary syndicalism keeps alive the desire to strike in the masses and only prospers when important strikes, accompanied by violence, take place.”

Georges Sorel book Reflections on Violence

“He once begged alms of a statue, and, when asked why he did so, replied, "To get practice in being refused."”

Diogenes of Sinope (-404–-322 BC) ancient Greek philosopher, one of the founders of the Cynic philosophy

“Dante would not have forgotten: they say that when Dante was a boy, he was asked: Dante what is the best food? to test his memory. Eggs, replied Dante. Years later, when Dante was a grown man, he was asked only: how? and Dante replied: fried. p30”

Fernando Sabino (1923–2004) Brazilian writer

“Only now that my son was gone did I realize how much I'd been living for him. When I woke up in the morning it was because he existed, and when I ordered food it was because he existed, and when I wrote my book it was because he existed to read it.”

Nicole Krauss The History of Love

“He was an admirer of the bullfight, and had once drawn my attention to the fact that only cricket and bullfighting had inspired any appreciable literature.”

Dal Stivens (1911–1997) Australian writer

“Once again he felt the now-familiar tingle on his skin, as when, just before a lightning strike, the air becomes electrically charged.”

Stephen R. Lawhead (1950) American writer

“When Zeno was asked what a friend was, he replied, "Another I."”

Diogenes Laërtius (180–240) biographer of ancient Greek philosophers