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Quotable Women, like BeMoreCreative.com, encourages thinking, working, and living more creatively. Creativity is "the power to connect the seemingly unconnected" (W. Plommer). To support this work, we earn a small affiliate commission. Please browse creatively!


Pearl Buck: Be born anywhere,...

Pearl Buck: Be born anywhere,...

Be born anywhere, little embryo novelist, but do not be born under the shadow of a great creed, not under the burden...

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Elizabeth Bowen: Illusions are art,...

Elizabeth Bowen: Illusions are art,...

Illusions are art, for the feeling person, and it is by art that we live, if we do.

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Annie Dillard: I woke in...

Annie Dillard: I woke in...

I woke in bits, like all children, piecemeal over the years. I discovered myself and the world, and forgot them, and...

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Gertrude Stein: Americans are very...

Gertrude Stein: Americans are very...

Americans are very friendly and very suspicious, that is what Americans are and that is what always upsets the...

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Natalie Clifford Barney: Youth is not...

Natalie Clifford Barney: Youth is not...

Youth is not a question of years: one is young or old from birth.

Source: Samples...

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Agatha Christie: The best time...

Agatha Christie: The best time...

The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes.

Source: In An...

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Kate Seredy: I make money...

Kate Seredy: I make money...

I make money using my brains and lose money listening to my heart. But in the long run my books balance pretty...

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Margaret Mitchell: Until you've lost...

Margaret Mitchell: Until you've lost...

Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really...

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Marguerite Duras: Men like women...

Marguerite Duras: Men like women...

Men like women who write. Even though they don't say so. A writer is a foreign country.

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Djuna Barnes: Time is a...

Djuna Barnes: Time is a...

Time is a great conference planning our end, and youth is only the past putting a leg...

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Djuna Barnes: Dreams have only...

Djuna Barnes: Dreams have only...

Dreams have only the pigmentation of fact.

Source: Doctor, in Nightwood, ch. 5,...

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Anne Tyler: I've always thought...

Anne Tyler: I've always thought...

I've always thought a hotel ought to offer optional small animals. . . . I mean a cat to sleep on your bed at night,...

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Anne Tyler: II would advise...

Anne Tyler: II would advise...

II would advise any beginning writer to write the first drafts as if no one else will ever read them -- without a...

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Margaret Drabble: Why can't people...

Margaret Drabble: Why can't people...

Why can't people be both flexible and efficient?

Source: The Middle Ground,...

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Marguerite Duras: The best way...

Marguerite Duras: The best way...

The best way to fill time is to waste it.

Source: Practicalities, Wasting Time,...

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Elizabeth Bowen: Jealousy is no...

Elizabeth Bowen: Jealousy is no...

Jealousy is no more than feeling alone against smiling enemies.

Source: The House...

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George Sand: Simplicity is the...

George Sand: Simplicity is the...

Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; it is the last limit of experience and the last effort...

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Kathleen Norris: Just the knowledge...

Kathleen Norris: Just the knowledge...

Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day...

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Jean Rhys: Age seldom arrives...

Jean Rhys: Age seldom arrives...

Age seldom arrives smoothly or quickly. It's more often a succession of jerks.

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Alexandra Ripley: Should-haves solve nothing....

Alexandra Ripley: Should-haves solve nothing....

Should-haves solve nothing. It's the next thing to happen that needs thinking about.

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