'inspiring writing' quotes

[Ventis]

Do you note interesting bits from books you read? Do you write them down, and come to them later to analyze how they are done?

Just to make it clear - I don't mean inspiring ideas, like pearls of wisdom, and I don't mean quotes about writing. I mean bits that make you stop and think wow, this dialogue is brilliant, or I wish I could write a description like this, or this is the best action scene ever.

And if you note them, would you care to share some? With a very brief explanation why you think it's great.

[circade]

I do have a list so long it wouldn't fit on one paper filled with those, though I probably should collect them in one place regardless
Often when I read a phrase or line that just seems perfect I know I will love the entire book for it, too...

One of the more recent ones would be...

“Tell me, tutor,' I said. 'Is revenge a science, or an art?”

from the first book of the Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence.
I can't say for certain why it's so amazing to me, something about the language is just... impressive. And considering the one speaking is supposed to be a kid still!

[jsmith883]

"Writing is an Adventure"

Winston Churchill.

-- 28 Jun 2015, 10:46 --

Have something to say and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of style.

--Matthew Arnold--

[KS Crooks]

I get this from things people say. My daughter is in her teens and called a friend one morning at 10:30. The friends response when she finally answered her phone was "It's too early for life." I love this line because of how it captures the mentality of most teens, including my own memories.

[zeldas_lullaby]

The pen is mightier than the sword.

[AvidReader8]

I love this feature of a Kindle, that you can save quotes that inspire you or you think are particularly touching.

A few of my favourites that I had saved are...


'I wish I knew how to quit you' (Brokeback Mountain - Annie Proulx)

'He is in the blood that goes through my veins, he is in every thought that crosses my mind, he is in every footstep I take, every flower I pick, every bird, every leaf, every raindrop, every word, every colour, every fingerprint, every star, every dawn and every sunset. He is in every breath and heartbeat. Luca. The love of my life' (The Love of My Life - Louise Douglas)

'..solitude did not have to mean loneliness. You could be lonely in a crowd' (The Island - Victoria Hislop)

[AOlsen23]

I've got a respectably-sized collection of these, but here are two snippets that I came across just recently. These are from "The Palace Thief" by Ethan Canin.

...the kind of mythic ritual that is the currency of a school like ours.

This second one I loved purely because it was such a delightful head nod to Dante's "The Inferno."

At one point especially, midway through that decade in which our country had lost its way, St. Benedict's arrived at a crossroads.

[Renee Bella]

"We were all just humans...drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness." F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby.

[DATo]

When the moon shall have faded out from the sky, and the sun shall shine at noonday a dull cherry red, and the seas shall be frozen over, and the icecap shall have crept downward to the equator from either pole . . . when all the cities shall have long been dead and crumbled into dust, and all life shall be on the last verge of extinction on this globe; then, on a bit of lichen, growing on the bald rocks beside the eternal snows of Panama, shall be seated a tiny insect, preening its antennae in the glow of the worn-out sun, the sole survivor of animal life on this our earth, a melancholy bug.

- William Jacob Holland, The Moth Book, 1903

[KatherineEWall]

I am a quote collector. I have notebooks full of quotes that have captured my imagination. I collect from a variety of areas, fiction, non-fiction, quote collections, and even newspaper articles or tidbits I hear on public transit. I just love a well-turned phrase, something that makes me think more deeply, or even just something that is melodious. I suppose this will be a habit I have until I can't write any more. Unlike most of my writing, my quotes have to be hand-written. There is something tactile as well as cerebral about them.

[KBrown]

I underline or highlight when I find a piece of writing I like. It can help give new ideas for a blocked writer. I personally find it helpful for character descriptions. You don't want to be pigeon-holed writing about the same thing.

"You never give away your heart; you lend it from time to time. If it were not so how could we take it back without asking?"
Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body