“I think that writers are made, not born or created out of dreams of childhood trauma—that becoming a writer (or a painter, actor, director, dancer, and so on) is a direct result of conscious will. Of course there has to be some talent involved, but talent is a dreadfully cheap commodity, cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work and study; a constant process of honing. Talent is a dull knife that will cut nothing unless it is wielded with great force—a force so great the knife is not really cutting at all but bludgeoning and breaking (and after two or three of these gargantuan swipes it may succeed in breaking itself…which may be what happened to such disparate writers as Ross Lockridge and Robert E. Howard). Discipline and constant work are the whetstones upon which the dull knife of talent is honed until it becomes sharp enough, hopefully, to cut through even the toughest meat and gristle. No writer, painter, or actor—no artist—is ever handed a sharp knife (although a few are handed almighty big ones; the name we give to the artist with the big knife is “genius”), and we hone with varying degrees of zeal and aptitude.”
― Danse Macabre
― Danse Macabre
“If it takes more than 5 minutes, its not graffiti.”
―
―
“The best books, he perceived, are those that tell you what you know already.” ― George Orwell, 1984.”
― 1984
― 1984
“He feels himself buried in those two infinities, the ocean and the sky, at one and the same time: the one is a tomb; the other is a shroud.”
― Les Misérables
― Les Misérables
MashableReads
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Mashable's social book club meets monthly for lively discussions of contemporary titles with the authors themselves. We're bringing together readers f ...more
Reading the 20th Century
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Welcome to 'Reading the 20th Century', a friendly and inclusive group that explores and discusses the literature, history, culture and music of the ye ...more
Nick’s 2025 Year in Books
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