Few things are better in the world than a room full of librarians. I consider them literary heroes. The keepers and defenders of the written word.
Louise PennyRead
I've seen enough successful writers who no longer seem to care when they are recognized with an award, and I think that's just tragic.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the tragic loss of passion for writing among some successful authors once they receive recognition.
Louise Penny emphasizes that for some successful writers, the joy and enthusiasm for their craft diminish once they achieve external recognition, like awards. This loss of passion is seen as a tragedy, suggesting that the intrinsic motivation to write should be more valued than the accolades that come with success.
In practice
In a speech about artistic integrity, I shared this quote to highlight the importance of passion over accolades.
Few things are better in the world than a room full of librarians. I consider them literary heroes. The keepers and defenders of the written word.
I had to learn compassion. Had to learn what it felt like to hate, and to forgive and to love and be loved. And to lose people close to me. Had to feel deep loneliness and sorrow. And then I could write.
Life is change. If you aren't growing and evolving, you're standing still, and the rest of the world is surging ahead.
Myrna could spend happy hours browsing bookcases. She felt if she could just get a good look at a person’s bookcase and their grocery cart, she’d pretty much know who they were.
We're all blessed and we're all blighted, Chief Inspector," said Finney. "Everyday each of us does our sums. The question is, what do we count?
Aid workers, when handing out food to starving people, quickly learn that the people fighting for it at the front are the people who need it least. It's the people sitting quietly at the back, too weak to fight, who need it the most. And so too with tragedy.
I did everything by the numbers. I had checklists upon checklists. If I wasn't ahead of everybody on my team, I didn't feel I was doing my job.
Months of preparation, one of those few opportunities, and the judgment of a split second are what makes some pilot an ace, while others think back on what they could have done.
Leave bands, go back to obscurity if I choose to, without a great sense of loss of security because it's all been based on the fact that I did it on my own or was doing, enjoying doing it on my own in the first place.
In my case, dust has become gold: Today, I work with people I grew up admiring.
Great industries are never made from single companies. There is room in space for a lot of winners.
For some people, fame kills it and becomes more important than the music or the performance. But for me fame is like rocket fuel. The more my fans like what I'm doing, the more I want to give back to them. And my passion is so strong I can't sleep - I haven'tslept for three days.
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