E. L. Doctorow

Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.

And though the newspapers called the shooting the Crime of the Century, Goldman knew it was only 1906 and there were ninety-four years to go.

And so the ordinary unendurable torments we all experienced were indeed exceptional in the way they were absorbed in each heart.

History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth.

I am often asked the question How can the masses permit themselves to be exploited by the few. The answer is By being persuaded to identify with them.

A novelist is a person who lives in other people's skins.

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.