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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!


Annie Dillard: I noticed this...

Annie Dillard: I noticed this...

I noticed this process of waking, and predicted with terrifying logic that one of these years not far away I would be...

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Gertrude Stein: Considering how dangerous...

Gertrude Stein: Considering how dangerous...

Considering how dangerous everything is, nothing is really frightening.

Source: In...

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Agatha Christie: It is ridiculous...

Agatha Christie: It is ridiculous...

It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City -- New York City is itself a detective...

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Katherine Paterson: A great novel...

Katherine Paterson: A great novel...

A great novel is a kind of conversion experience. We come away from it changed.

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Shirley Jackson: It has long...

Shirley Jackson: It has long...

It has long been my belief that in times of great stress, such as a 4-day vacation, the thin veneer of family wears...

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Nancy Mitford: I have only...

Nancy Mitford: I have only...

I have only read one book in my life and that is White Fang. It's so frightfully good I've never bothered to read...

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Pearl Buck: Self-expression must pass...

Pearl Buck: Self-expression must pass...

Self-expression must pass into communication for its fulfillment.

Source: The...

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Gertrude Stein: Everybody knows if...

Gertrude Stein: Everybody knows if...

Everybody knows if you are too careful you are so occupied in being careful that you are sure to stumble over...

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Iris Murdoch: A bad review...

Iris Murdoch: A bad review...

A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia.

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Lydia M Child: Every human being...

Lydia M Child: Every human being...

Every human being has, like Socrates, an attendant spirit; and wise are they who obey its signals. If it does not...

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M F K Fisher: Dictionaries are always...

M F K Fisher: Dictionaries are always...

Dictionaries are always fun, but not always reassuring.

Source: Dubious Honors,...

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Mary McCarthy: Every age has...

Mary McCarthy: Every age has...

Every age has a keyhole to which its eye is pasted.

Source: On the Contrary, pt. 1,...

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Mary McCarthy: The suspense of...

Mary McCarthy: The suspense of...

The suspense of a novel is not only in the reader, but in the novelist, who is intensely curious about what will...

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Marguerite Duras: Journalism without a...

Marguerite Duras: Journalism without a...

Journalism without a moral position is impossible. Every journalist is a moralist. It's absolutely...

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Ursula Le Guin: The one thing...

Ursula Le Guin: The one thing...

The one thing a writer has to have is a pencil and some paper. That's enough, so long as she knows that she and she...

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Shana Alexander: Letters are expectation...

Shana Alexander: Letters are expectation...

Letters are expectation packaged in an envelope.

Source: The Surprises of the Mail...

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Lady Marguerite Blessington: Praise is the...

Lady Marguerite Blessington: Praise is the...

Praise is the only gift for which people are really grateful.

Source: In And I...

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Margaret Oliphant: Oh, never mind...

Margaret Oliphant: Oh, never mind...

Oh, never mind the fashion. When one has a style of one's own, it is always twenty times...

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Maya Angelou: The most called-upon...

Maya Angelou: The most called-upon...

The most called-upon prerequisite of a friend is an accessible ear.

Source: The...

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Anita Brookner: In real life,...

Anita Brookner: In real life,...

In real life, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case it is my contention that Aesop was...

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