Quotes 'R Us...well, Me, anyway.

I used to play a game, back when I was ensconced in the glory of having supreme faith in a particular religion and its views.  I'd take that book...you know the one, whose title always begins with a Capital B no matter what...and open it to a random page, point to a random verse, and be thrilled when the writing on the page spoke directly to my present situation.  It was clearly the hand of God reaching down, guiding my one finger as it picked the right verse out of thousands for me to read. 

Meh.  I've aged a bit, and life doesn't hold quite the mystery it used to.  Not saying you shouldn't continue playing that game, if it brings you strength or warmth or inspiration.  It still, in fact, works for me.  But so does a web site full of quotes on writing. 

Funny how it works.  I presume there's some psychological term for it, this ability to find relevance in random quotations or thoughts or images.  But it does happen, and it's not surprising that it does.  After all, our lives are strange and quirky amalgamations of thousands of events every day.  You may not notice, but I suspect your subconscious does, and so when you read a quote that has relevance to something you saw, heard, or read at, say, 6:30 this morning, is it really surprising that your brain flags that as interesting? 

*ahem* So now I've probably destroyed the magic in someone's prayer life, dooming them to eternal Hell or something like that.  Sorry.  What I'm really getting at is that I went through some quote sites this morning and found a number that applied to my efforts.

Be obscure clearly.  ~E.B. White
Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.  ~Hannah Arendt
I love writing.  I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.  ~James Michener
Every writer I know has trouble writing.  ~Joseph Heller
A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one.  ~Baltasar Gracián
What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he's staring out of the window.  ~Burton Rascoe
The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes.  ~Agatha Christie
If you want to get rich from writing, write the sort of thing that's read by persons who move their lips when they're reading to themselves.  ~Don Marquis
Most editors are failed writers - but so are most writers.  ~T.S. Eliot
The road to hell is paved with adverbs.  ~Stephen King (no, not this one)

See how much wisdom can be gained through reading the words of others?

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