“I think joy and sweetness and affection are a spiritual path. We're here to know God, to love and serve God, and to be blown away by the beauty and miracle of nature. You just have to get rid of so much baggage to be light enough to dance, to sing, to play. You don't have time to carry grudges; you don't have time to cling to the need to be right.”
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“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.”
― Bird by Bird
― Bird by Bird
“You are lucky to be one of those people who wishes to build sand castles with words, who is willing to create a place where your imagination can wander. We build this place with the sand of memories; these castles are our memories and inventiveness made tangible. So part of us believes that when the tide starts coming in, we won't really have lost anything, because actually only a symbol of it was there in the sand. Another part of us thinks we'll figure out a way to divert the ocean. This is what separates artists from ordinary people: the belief, deep in our hearts, that if we build our castles well enough, somehow the ocean won't wash them away. I think this is a wonderful kind of person to be.”
― Bird by Bird
― Bird by Bird
“I do not understand the mystery of grace -- only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.”
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“E.L. Doctorow said once said that 'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.' You don't have to see where you're going, you don't have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice on writing, or life, I have ever heard.”
― Bird by Bird
― Bird by Bird
Long Island Literature Lovers
— 22 members
— last activity Jun 29, 2018 10:36AM
We're a group of people on Long Island N.Y, who wish to read a previously chosen book and meet at central location to discuss it! Every member will h ...more
Emily Books
— 153 members
— last activity Sep 25, 2012 11:41AM
Emily Books reads one book a month selected by Emily Gould and Ruth Curry. The books are sold at emilybooks.com and sent automatically to subscribers. ...more
Long Islander's Read!
— 125 members
— last activity May 26, 2019 01:40PM
This group is for Long Islander's in NY who who want to know what each other is reading and maybe get together. ...more
Katherine’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Katherine’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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