Starting Quotes - Page 27

• Starting a novel is opening a door on a misty landscape; you can still see very little but you can smell the earth and feel the wind blowing.

  Iris Murdoch

  Doors, Wind Blowing, Smell

  Iris Murdoch (1961). “Under the Net: A Novel”

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• When we read, we are not looking for new ideas, but to see our own thoughts given the seal of confirmation on the printed page. The words that strike us are those that awake an echo in a zone we have already made our own—the place where we live—and the vibration enables us to find fresh starting points within ourselves

  Cesare Pavese

  Echoes, Ideas, Pages

  Cesare Pavese (2017). “This Business of Living: Diaries 1935-1950”, p.146, Routledge

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• Things have been a mess for so many years that trying to pin down a starting point is like trying to figure out where your skin starts.

  Jonathan Tropper

  Years, Skins, Trying

  Jonathan Tropper (2012). “One Last Thing Before I Go: A Novel”, p.11, Penguin

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• It wasn't that I hated being asked a bunch of questions. I had nothing against questions. I just didn't like listening to them, because some questions take forever to make sense. Sometimes waiting for a question to finish is like watching someone draw an elephant starting with the tail first. As soon as you see the tail your mind wanders all over the place and you think of a million other animals that also have tails until you don't care about the elephant because it's only one thing when you've been thinking about a million others.

  Jack Gantos

  Animal, Thinking, Elephants

  Jack Gantos (2011). “Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key”, p.34, Macmillan

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• What is it, Angel?" she said, starting up. "Have they come for me?" "Yes, dearest," he said. "They have come." "It is as it should be," she murmured. "Angel, I am almost glad—yes, glad! This happiness could not have lasted. It was too much. I have had enough; and now I shall not live for you to despise me!" She stood up, shook herself, and went forward, neither of the men having moved. "I am ready," she said quietly.

  Thomas Hardy

  Angel, Men, Starting Up

  Thomas Hardy (2016). “Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman”, p.484, Thomas Hardy

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• I am starting a collection of only right-hand gloves. It’s ever so bourgeois to have two.

  Libba Bray

  Hands, Two, Gloves

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• There was, really, nothing you could use as a blueprint for your life, except your past. There was no starting over. There was only picking up the pieces someone had left behind.

  Jodi Picoult

  Past, Starting Over, Use

  Jodi Picoult (2002). “Picture Perfect”, p.378, Penguin

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• Naturally, Coach Hedge went ballistic; but Percy found it hard to take the satyr seriously since he was barely five feet tall. "Never in my life!" Coach bellowed, waving his bat and knocking over a plate of apples. "Against the rules! Irresponsible!" "Coach," Annabeth said, "it was an accident. We were talking, and we fell asleep." "Besides," Percy said, "you're starting to sound like Terminus." Hedge narrowed his eyes. "Is that an insult, Jackson? 'Cause I'll—I'll terminus you, buddy!

  Rick Riordan

  Eye, Talking, Apples

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• Coach," Annabeth said, "it was an accident. We were talking, and we fell asleep." "Besides," Percy said, "you're starting to sound like Terminus." Hedge narrowed his eyes. "Is that an insult, Jackson? 'Cause I'll-I'll Terminus you, buddy!

  Rick Riordan

  Eye, Talking, Sound

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• But sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, 'Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.' So finally I would write one true sentence, and then go on from there.

  Ernest Hemingway

  Writing, Thinking, Paris

  Ernest Hemingway (2014). “The Hemingway Collection”, p.428, Simon and Schuster

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• At one o’clock, the ever-logical Right-Eye Grand Steward woke up to discover that during his sleep his left-eyed counterpart had executed three of his advisors for treason, ordered the creation of a new carp pool and banned limericks. Worse still, no progress had been made in tracking down the Kleptomancer, and of the two people believed to be his accomplices, both had been released from prison and one had been appointed food taster. Right-Eye was not amused. He had known for centuries that he could trust nobody but himself. Now he was seriously starting to wonder about himself.

  Frances Hardinge

  Sleep, Eye, Two

  Frances Hardinge (2012). “A Face Like Glass”, p.109, Pan Macmillan

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• You know, I'm really starting to think the whole world is just a patchwork quilt of crazy little cults, all with their own secret spaces, their own records, their own rules.

  Robin Sloan

  Quilts, Crazy, Thinking

  Robin Sloan (2012). “Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel”, p.253, Macmillan

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• You are really starting to annoy me, Stanton.” Nick didn’t blink. “Good. By the end of the night I hope to finish the job.

  Julie James

  Jobs, Night, Annoying

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• I'm stupid," Leo mumbled. "Pi would expand outward, because it's infinite." He reversed the order of the numbers, starting in the center and working toward the edge. When he aligned the last ring, something inside the sphere clicked. The door swung open. Leo beamed at his friends. "That, good people, is how we do things in Leo World. Come on in!" "I hate Leo World," Frank muttered. Hazel laughed.

  Rick Riordan

  Hate, Stupid, Doors

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• I am starting to get tired of relying on words. They are full of meaning, yes, but they lack sensation. Writing to her is not the same as seeing her face as she listens. hearing back from her is not the same as hearing her voice. I have always been grateful for technology, but now it feels as if there's a little hitch of separation woven into any digital interaction. I want to be there, and this scares me. All my usual disconnected comforts are bieng taken away, now that I see the greater comfort of presence.

  David Levithan

  Grateful, Taken, Writing

  David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.131, Egmont UK

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• I am starting to get tired of relying on words.

  David Levithan

  Tired

  David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.131, Egmont UK

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• You start a question, and it's like starting a stone. You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting others.

  Robert Louis Stevenson

  Jekyll, Stones, Hills

  Robert Louis Stevenson (2010). “Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde”, p.10, Bibliolis Books

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• Beginnings could happen more than once or in different ways. You could think you were starting something afresh, when actually what you were doing was carrying on as before. He had faced his shortcomings and overcome them and so the real business of walking was happening only now.

  Rachel Joyce

  Real, Thinking, Overcoming

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• I realize something. That wasn't a finish line for me...This is my new starting line.

  Wendelin Van Draanen

  Lines, Realizing, Finish Line

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• I have no more idea now of who I am than I did before. But at least I know that. And I'm starting to figure out who I want to be.

  David Levithan

  Who I Am, Ideas, Want

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• I'm under strict instructions to write a happy ending. Rule number ninety-seven: You're not allowed to make a dragon cry." "Right," Said Sophie, starting the engine. "Tears might quench their fire.

  Chris d'Lacey

  Writing, Fire, Dragons

  Chris d'Lacey (2011). “The Fire Within”, p.275, Scholastic Inc.

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• Assured her I've never loved anyone except myself and have no intention of starting now.

  David Mitchell

  Intention, Starting Now, Assured

  David Mitchell (2012). “Cloud Atlas (Enhanced Movie Tie-in Edition): A Novel”, p.90, Random House Group

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• He flipped himself onto his side and kissed me. "You're so hot," I said, my hand still on his leg. "I'm starting to think you have an amputee fetish," he answered, still kissing me. I laughed. "I have an Augustus Waters fetish," I explained.

  John Green

  Kissing, Thinking, Hands

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• Mia,” Kim said, an edge of warning in her voice signaling the end of her patience. “You’re starting to act like one of those girls. Do you need to get me a gun?

  Gayle Forman

  Best Friend, Girl, Gun

  Gayle Forman (2009). “If I Stay”, p.58, Penguin

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• I’m starting to get used to this feeling of not caring about anything.

  J.A. Redmerski

  Caring, Feelings, Used

  J. A. Redmerski, J. Lynn, Jay Crownover (2013). “The Edge of Never, Wait For You, Rule: Scorching Summer Reads 3 Books in 1”, p.42, HarperCollins UK

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