Whatever one intends, the work takes on a life of its own.

- Ann Beattie

I've spent my life supporting myself.

- Ann Beattie

What will happen can't be stopped. Aim for Grace.

- Ann Beattie

It's not about having things figured out, or about communicating with other people, trying to make them understand what you understand. It's about a …

- Ann Beattie

It seems to me that the problem with diaries, and the reason that most of them are so boring, is that every day we vacillate between examining our ha…

- Ann Beattie

Clichés so often befall vain people.

- Ann Beattie

I think almost always that what gets me going with a story is the atmosphere, the visual imagery, and then I people it with characters, not the other…

- Ann Beattie

the real killer was when you married the wrong person but had the right children.

- Ann Beattie

Any life will seem dramatic if you omit mention of most of it.

- Ann Beattie