50 Anthony Doerr Quotes for You to Enjoy

Anthony Doerr

American Writer

Always Book Life Me Time You

Related authors: Dale Carnegie Denis Waitley Dr. Seuss H. L. Mencken Napoleon Hill Ray Bradbury W. E. B. Du Bois William Arthur Ward

Without always meaning to, I write really long short stories, 60-pagers, 90-pagers, pieces of fiction that are too long for all but the bravest magazines to print, and too short for all but the bravest book publishers to publish. Anthony Doerr

Book Long Publish Too Magazines Write Pieces Print Without Always Short Bravest Fiction Stories Short Stories Meaning Really Publishers

Short stories are not maybe the biggest deal in our culture anymore. Anthony Doerr

Culture Our Deal Maybe Short Anymore Stories Short Stories Biggest

Memory is this one attempt to not be erased by time. And I think that ties back to what I learned watching my grandmother lose her memories is, you know, we are all facing erasure eventually. Anthony Doerr

Time You Memories Memory Lose Think Back Facing Attempt Know Learned Ties Erased Grandmother Eventually Her Watching

If our biological imperative is to pass our genes to the next generation, our moral imperative has to be to try, before we become corpses, to leave them a planet they can survive on. Anthony Doerr

Generation Try Become Before Our Corpses Moral Imperative Genes Pass Leave Survive Them Planet Next Next Generation Biological

I studied history and English in college, got a master's in writing, but I was always sort of an autodidact in science. Anthony Doerr

History Science Writing College Master Studied Sort Always Got English

Learned to read, and for a while as a kid, you think books are just leaves on trees. Then suddenly, you think a human being is making that, and maybe you could do that. Anthony Doerr

You Human Being Think Trees Books Kid Could Read Learned Making Leaves Human Maybe Just Being While Then Suddenly

Growing up, I loved to play. Writing was a natural outtake of play. I realize now, having kids, that maybe that's unusual. Living out in the middle of nowhere, I entertained myself by writing. Anthony Doerr

Myself Natural Writing Living Kids Out Entertained Having Unusual Up Maybe Middle Loved Realize Growing Growing Up Now Nowhere Play

I listen to podcasts while I run in Boise's foothills. Anthony Doerr

Run Listen While

In my early 20s, a friend and I worked for a few months on a sheep farm in New Zealand. Working with ewes, I learned a lot about the power of wool - how it keeps you cool when you're hot, warm when you're cold, dry when you're wet. Anthony Doerr

You Power Sheep Few Farm Cold Months About Hot New Learned Dry How Lot Friend Wet New Zealand Wool Warm Worked Working Cool Zealand Keeps Early Early 20s

I subscribe to the theory that reading a book is similar to walking a trail, and I'm most comfortable walking when I can see where I'm going and where I've been. When I'm reading a printed book, the weight of the pages I've turned gives me a sense of how far I've come. Anthony Doerr

Me Book Reading Subscribe Sense See Similar Gives Weight Come Most Comfortable Printed How How Far Been Trail Walking Going Where Far Turned Pages Theory

'Research,' for me, is a big word that encompasses a lot of different activities, all of them based around curiosity. Research is traveling to places, or studying snowflakes with a magnifying glass, or excavating one's memories. Research is walking around Hamburg with a notebook. Anthony Doerr

The world is so fundamentally interesting that it makes me fall in love with it a dozen times a day. Anthony Doerr

Love Day Me World Fall Makes Times Interesting Dozen Fundamentally

That's the power of fiction, that it can take the collective and make it personal. Anthony Doerr

Collective Power Take Make Personal Fiction

Sometimes my readers ask me what else they should read, and I recommend Sebald. Anthony Doerr

Me Sometimes Else Recommend Read Readers Ask Should

Great writers probably shouldn't be ranked, at least not by me. Anthony Doerr

Great Me Ranked Writers Least

The only books I give up on are texts where the writer's attention is concentrated so heavily on narrative questions that his or her use of language becomes careless. Anthony Doerr

Language Careless Books Give Only Writer Attention Concentrated Narrative Becomes His Questions Up Texts Where Use Her

In my students, I'm always dispelling the notion that characters come like a light bulb over the head in cartoons. For me, it's like a shapeless big lump of clay. You just build it into something, and then you step back and go, 'That's not right,' hack it apart, put out a new arm, and say, 'Maybe this will walk around and work.' Anthony Doerr

Work Me You Light Walk Will Big Build Back Say Out Characters Cartoons Something Clay Hack Students Step Put Head Light Bulb Arm Over New Come Like Around Always Bulb Go Maybe Just Apart Then Notion Lump Right

I don't believe in reincarnation. I feel like we're here for such an appallingly brief period of time. I believe we each get this one trip, and if we're really, really fortunate, maybe we get 70 or 80 years on Earth. Anthony Doerr

Time Believe Earth Trip Feel Like Period Years Get Maybe Really Fortunate Each Brief Reincarnation Here

My goals aren't really commercial success. Anthony Doerr

Success Goals Commercial Commercial Success Really

Every artist wants an audience, and it's incredible to me how books take on a life of their own and reach people whom you could never meet. That's what got me interested in writing in the first place. Anthony Doerr

Life Me You People Writing First Own Every Incredible Meet Books Could Take Never Reach First Place Audience Got How Artist Wants Place Interested Whom

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