I've learned... That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
Andy RooneyRead
Writers don't often say anything that readers don't already know, unless its a news story. A writer's greatest pleasure is revealing to people things they knew but did not know they knew. Or did not realize everyone else knew, too. This produces a warm sense of fellow feeling and is the best a writer can do.
Interpretation
Writers share insights that resonate with readers' own understanding, enhancing their sense of connection.
In this quote, Andy Rooney articulates the unique role of writers in society as they reveal truths that readers may intuitively understand but have not fully acknowledged. This act of revelation fosters a shared sense of awareness and connection between the writer and the audience, emphasizing that the true joy for a writer lies in facilitating this collective understanding and recognition among people.
In practice
This quote can be used in a writing workshop to inspire aspiring authors.
I've learned... That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
I am not retiring. Writers don't retire. Writers never stop writing.
Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.
My advice is not to wait to be struck by an idea. If you're a writer, you sit down and damn well decide to have an idea. That's the way to get an idea.
I start with no preconceived idea - discovery excites me to focus - then rediscovery through the lens - final form of presentation seen on ground glass, the finished print previsioned completely in every detail of texture, movement, proportion, before exposure - the shutter's release automatically and finally fixes my conception, allowing no after manipulation - the ultimate end, the print, is but a duplication of all that I saw and felt through my camera.
Very quickly a painting is turned into a facsimile of itself when one becomes so familiar with with it that one recognizes it without looking at it.
When the bright angel dominates, out comes a great work of art, a Michelangelo David or a Beethoven symphony.
I really, truly believe that writing comes out of the body; of course, the mind is working as well, but it's a double thing and that doubleness is united. I mean, you can't separate persona from psyche; you just can't do it.
Wrestling was like stand-up comedy for me. Every night I had a live audience of 25,000 people to win over. My goal was never to be the loudest or the craziest. It was to be the most entertaining.
I may play the same program from one recital to the next, but I will play it differently, and because it is always different, it is always new.
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