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“Confidence is like a dragon where, for every head cut off, two more heads grow back.”
― Venus in Arms
― Venus in Arms

“But human beings are not machines, and however powerful the pressure to conform, they sometimes are so moved by what they see as injustice that they dare to declare their independence. In that historical possibility lies hope.”
― You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times
― You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times

“There is a muse, but he’s not going to come fluttering down into your writing room and scatter creative fairy-dust all over your typewriter or computer. He lives in the ground. He’s a basement kind of guy. You have to descend to his level, and once you get down there you have to furnish an apartment for him to live in. You have to do all the grunt labor, in other words, while the muse sits and smokes cigars and admires his bowling trophies and pretends to ignore you. Do you think it’s fair? I think it’s fair. He may not be much to look at, that muse-guy, and he may not be much of a conversationalist, but he’s got inspiration. It’s right that you should do all the work and burn all the mid-night oil, because the guy with the cigar and the little wings has got a bag of magic. There’s stuff in there that can change your life. Believe me, I know.”
― On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
― On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.”
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“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.”
― On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
― On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Kate’s 2024 Year in Books
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