Ten writers for children. All with something to say.

3/7/11

ACT NOW

One must learn to bear with oneself.
—Henrí de Toulouse-Lautrec


No, I must keep to my own style and
go on in my own way; and though I
may never succeed again in that, I am
convinced that I should totally fail in
any other.
—Jane Austen

No man who values originality will ever
be original. But try to tell the truth as you
see it, try to do any bit of work as well as
it can be done for the work's sake, and
what men call originality will come unsought.
—C.S. Lewis

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy,
the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (or creation)
there is one elementary truth, the ignorance
of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits onself,
then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would
otherwise have never occurred. A whole stream
of events issues from the decisions raising in
one’s favor all manner of incidents and meetings
and material assistance which no man would have
believed would have come his way. Whatever
you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it.
Action has magic, grace and power in it.
—Goethe

6 comments:

Edie Hemingway said...

Very thought-provoking quotes, Christy! Thanks!

Mark said...

Nice quotes! The one from C.S. Lewis reminds me of the advice concerning attempts to achieve "universality" in one's work: just create from the heart, write what you know, etc, and the rest will follow. Thanks for sharing these!

Lauren said...

Christy, I have been battling the flu and therefore watching a lot of masterpiece theatre series, and these quotes feel exactly like the lives I have been living the past 48 hours. Inspiring and timely.

Christy said...

This was a fun assignment--made for a good time of reflection. All these are from quote journals I kept 25-30 years ago!

Diane Adams said...

Love Goethe. I had that quote pinned to my wall when I first started writing. I am going to copy it pin it up again!

David LaRochelle said...

The theme of "acting now" is one that resonates with me, and I can always benefit from hearing quotes like this.