Isman > Isman's Quotes

“Conformity is contagious.”
― Isman H. Suryaman

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”
― Henry David Thoreau

“I cringe when critics say I'm a master of the popular novel. What's an unpopular novel?”
― Irwin Shaw

“Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one's luck.”
― Iris Murdoch

“Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?”
― Henry Ward Beecherr

“Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.”
― Jules Renard

“I don’t ask writers about their work habits. I really don’t care. Joyce Carol Oates says somewhere that when writers ask each other what time they start working and when they finish and how much time they take for lunch, they’re actually trying to find out, "Is he as crazy as I am?" I don’t need that question answered.”
― Philip Roth

“I always write from my own experiences, whether I've had them or not.”
― Ron Carlson

“Writer’s block is only a failure of the ego.”
― Norman Mailer

“Indeed, learning to write may be part of learning to read. For all I know, writing comes out of a superior devotion to reading.”
― Eudora Welty, On Writing

“Why do people always expect authors to answer questions? I am an author because I want to ask questions. If I had answers, I'd be a politician.”
― Eugene Ionesco

“Finding a life partner is like choosing a bed. You need one as a friend either in times of health or sickness. Freshness or weariness. Happiness or sadness. And we can be certain that we've picked the right one without having to sleep with it first.”
― Isman H. Suryaman

“A wise man (or the first comedian in history) once said, "If you wish to make God laugh, tell him your plans." This is why during praying, I occasionally slip in my business plans. If there were an internet of somekind in heaven, my story would've been forwarded to everyone even before lunch break.”
― Isman H. Suryaman

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”
― Groucho Marx