Quotes from book
Zen in the Art of Writing

Name: Zen in the Art of Writing
Author: Ray Bradbury

Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity is a collection of essays by Ray Bradbury and published in 1990. The unifying theme is Bradbury's love for writing.

“You grow ravenous. You run fevers. You know exhilarations. You can't sleep at night, because your beast-creature ideas want out and turn you in your bed. It is a grand way to live.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“Writing is supposed to be difficult, agonizing, a dreadful exercise, a terrible occupation.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“Work. Don't Think. Relax.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Variant: Write. Don't think. Relax.
Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“Life is like underwear, should be changed twice a day.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

A Graveyard for Lunatics (1990)
Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“Ours is a culture and a time immensely rich in trash as it is in treasures.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine. The landmine is me. After the explosion, I spend the rest of the day putting the pieces together.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“We have our Arts so we won't die of Truth”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“Now that I have you thoroughly confused, let me pause to hear your own dismayed cry.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“And metaphors like cats behind your smile,
Each one wound up to purr,
each one a pride,
Each one a fine gold beast you've hid inside (…)”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“We need our Arts to teach us how to breathe”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“And what, you ask, does writing teach us? First and foremost, it reminds us that we are alive and that it is a gift and a privilege, not a right.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“Think of Shakespeare and Melville and you think of thunder, lightning, wind. They all knew the joy of creating in large or small forms, on unlimited or restricted canvases. These are the children of the gods.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“I came on the old and best ways of writing through ignorance and experiment and was startled when truths leaped out of brushes like quail before gunshot.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“We never sit anything out. We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Variant: We never sit anything out. We are cups, quietly and constantly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.
Source: Zen in the Art of Writing (1990) 
Context: From now on I hope always to educate myself as best I can. But lacking this, in future I will relaxedly turn back to my secret mind to see what it has observed when I thought I was sitting this one out. We never sit anything out. We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.

“Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“Who are your friends? Do they believe in you? Or do they stunt your growth with ridicule and disbelief? If the latter, you haven't friends. Go find some.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing